Overview Research Education Projects Media Contact
Fields of interest
Cardio-Thoracic Surgery Reconstructive Medicine Biomaterials Quality and Safety in Health Care Always looking for collaboration projects (public/private). See also: mst.nl/thoraxcentrum
Expertise Medicine and Dentistry Patient Heart Surgery Mobilization Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Heart Lung Surgeon Evaluation Study Organisations Frank Halfwerk (1989) obtained his Bachelor (2010) and Master of Science (2014) degree in Technical Medicine, with a specialisation in Reconstructive Medicine at the University of Twente. He also finished a Master in Health Sciences with a specialisation in Health Services and Management in 2014 at the same university. He started as a Technical Physician and external Doctoral Candidate in October 2014 in cardio-thoracic surgery at Thorax Centrum Twente (Medisch Spectrum Twente) and in the department of Biomechanical Engineering in the ‘Technology in Cardiac Surgery’ group of prof. Grandjean.
As of 2020, he works as an Assistant Professor in the Engineering Organ Support Technologies group from prof. Jutta Arens where he is principle investigator of the Cardiac Surgery Innovations Lab.
His focus is both on technical and applied innovations in cardio-thoracic surgery. This includes personalised rehabilitation after cardiac surgery with accelerometers and artificial intelligence, simulation-based surgical training, 3D-planning, and surgical technology assessment.
He was awarded the Prof. Snellen Award (2014) from the Dutch Society for Cardiology / Dutch Society for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery, and the Prof. Schuijer Campus Culture Prize (2012) for 'combining excellent cultural performance with good study results'. His research was nominated for the prof. David Winter Young Investigator Award from the International Society of Biomechanics (2015).
He is co-applicant and project manager of awarded research projects and supervised over 70 bachelor- and master students.
Other interests include dancing in national and international ballroom competitions, playing chess, organising, politics, health care policy.
Publications Author Correction: Ex vivo validation of magnetically actuated intravascular untethered robots in a clinical setting: Ex vivo validation of magnetically actuated intravascular untethered robots in a clinical setting (Communications Engineering, (2024), 3, 1, (68), 10.1038/s44172-024-00215-2) (2025) Communications Engineering, 4 . Article 16. Ligtenberg, L.-J. W., Rabou, N. C. A., Goulas, C., Duinmeijer, W. C., Halfwerk, F. R. , Arens, J., Lomme, R., Magdanz, V., Klingner, A., Rot, E. A. M. K., Nijland, C. H. E., Wasserberg, D., Liefers, H. R., Jonkheijm, P., Susarrey-Arce, A., Warlé, M. & Khalil, I. S. M.https://doi.org/10.1038/s44172-025-00353-1 Response to the letter to the editor – Brain Pro-TCT: a prospective, quasi-experimental study on early delirium detection with Delirium Observation Screening Scale versus single-channel EEG after cardiac surgery in patients aged over 70 years (2025) European journal of cardiovascular nursing, 24 (7), 1191-1192. Article zvaf167. ten Broeke, M., Speekenbrink, R. G. H., van der Palen, J. & Halfwerk, F. R. https://doi.org/10.1093/eurjcn/zvaf167 De zorg in beweging - Onderzoek aan beweging (Frank Halfwerk) (2025) [Non-textual form › Digital or Visual Products]. Spotify AB. Halfwerk, F. R. & van der Steen, S. https://open.spotify.com/episode/7GrXajCZ2PFZX0o7CSt55k Initiatives to Improve Early Mobilization after Cardiac Surgery: Interim results of the T-REX Twente randomized trial (2025) [Contribution to conference › Abstract] Joint International Meeting on Enhanced Recovery after Surgery, ERAS 2025 . Wielens, N., Roerdink, K., Lynch, W., Esau (Park), L. & Halfwerk, F. R. https://erasistanbul2025.com/eras.pdf Patient blood management for cardiac surgery - Validation of a blood transfusion prediction model for a low transfusion population (2025) [Contribution to conference › Abstract] Joint International Meeting on Enhanced Recovery after Surgery, ERAS 2025 . Halfwerk, F. R. , Haumann, R., Plonek, T., Niesten, E. D., Maaskant, J. M., Arens, J. & van der Palen, J. https://erasistanbul2025.com/eras.pdf Postoperative delirium screening: Delirium observation screening scale versus single-channel EEG after cardiac surgery (2025) [Contribution to conference › Abstract] Joint International Meeting on Enhanced Recovery after Surgery, ERAS 2025 . ten Broeke, M., Henckens, W. P. R., Weierink, A., Speekenbrink, R. G. H., van der Palen, J. & Halfwerk, F. R. https://erasistanbul2025.com/eras.pdf Advancements in 3D lung models for minimally invasive lung cancer surgery: from static to real-time dynamic modeling (2025) Translational Lung Cancer Research, 14 (8), 3126-3141. Laven, I. E. W. G., Franssen, A. J. P. M., van Roozendaal, L. M., Degens, J. H. R. J., Korsten, A., Halfwerk, F. R. , Sadeghi, A. H., Guerrera, F., Hulsewé, K. W. E., Vissers, Y. L. J. & de Loos, E. R.https://doi.org/10.21037/tlcr-2025-460 Introducing a method to monitor the impact of introducing value-based payment models; using a Dutch pilot project for coronary artery disease as an example (2025) International journal of healthcare management (E-pub ahead of print/First online). Timmermans, M. J. C., Lopes Leao, D. L. L., Halfwerk, F. R. , Derks, L., van Boven, W. J., Arkenbout, E. K., Groot, W. & van Veghel, D.https://doi.org/10.1080/20479700.2025.2524691 Additional Carbon Dioxide Removal by Oxygenated Dialysis Fluid: Insights for the Development of a Novel Lung and Kidney Assist Device (2025) ASAIO Journal (E-pub ahead of print/First online). Costa, A. M., Guarino, L., Halfwerk, F. R. , Wiegmann, B. & Arens, J.https://doi.org/10.1097/MAT.0000000000002505 No-Touch Aorta Off-Pump LIMA-Radial Artery Y-Graft CABG as a Safe Strategy for All-Comers: Long-Term Survival (2025) Journal of Clinical Medicine, 14 (14). Article 4878. Plonek, T., Mendyka, D. & Halfwerk, F. R. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm14144878 RenOx: A Novel Artificial Lung Device with Integrated Kidney Support (2025) [Thesis › PhD Thesis - Research UT, graduation UT]. University of Twente. Martins Costa, A. https://doi.org/10.3990/1.9789036566988 Artificial Placenta and Artificial Womb Technologies for Lung and Kidney Failure: A Holistic Perspective (2025) ASAIO Journal, 71 (7), 519-527. van Galen, D. J. M., Martins Costa, A., Siche-Pantel, F., Kemper, R., Rochow, N., Brandani, M., Halfwerk, F. R. & Arens, J.https://doi.org/10.1097/mat.0000000000002443 Student Surgical Skills Training with PRIDE: Preclinical Redesign with Inclusion, Diversity and Equity (2025) [Contribution to conference › Poster] 30th Annual Meeting of the Society for Simulation Applied to Medicine, SESAM 2025 . Halfwerk, F. R. & Arens, J. Just-in-Time in situ pre-operative three-dimensional visualisation for anatomical lung surgery (2025) [Contribution to conference › Poster] 30th Annual Meeting of the Society for Simulation Applied to Medicine, SESAM 2025 . Halfwerk, F. R. , Torrenga, F., van Doremalen, R., Siepel, F. J., Laven, I. E. W. G., Arens, J. & Martina, B. Brain Pro-TCT: A prospective, quasi-experimental study on early delirium detection with Delirium Observation Screening Scale vs. single-channel EEG after cardiac surgery in patients aged over 70 years (2025) European journal of cardiovascular nursing, 24 (4), 608-615. Article zvaf024. ten Broeke, M., Henckens, W. P. R., Weierink, A., Speekenbrink, R. G. H., van der Palen, J. & Halfwerk, F. R. https://doi.org/10.1093/eurjcn/zvaf024 Validation and optimization of a blood transfusion prediction model for low transfusion rate adult cardiac surgery (2025) Perfusion (E-pub ahead of print/First online). Haumann, R., Plonek, T., Niesten, E., Maaskant, J., Arens, J., van der Palen, J. & Halfwerk, F. https://doi.org/10.1177/02676591251334903 In-house patient-specific preoperative three-dimensional visualisation for anatomical lung resections (2025) [Contribution to conference › Abstract] Annual Meeting of the Society for Cardiothoracic Surgery in Great Britain and Ireland , SCTS 2025 . Halfwerk, F. R. , Torrenga, F., van Doremalen, R., Laven, I. E. W. G., Arens, J., de Loos, E. R. & Martina, B. No-touch aorta off-pump LIMA-radial Y-graft CABG: A safe strategy for all-comers: Long term follow up of a preferred treatment approach (2025) [Contribution to conference › Poster] Annual Meeting of the Society for Cardiothoracic Surgery in Great Britain and Ireland , SCTS 2025 . Mendyka, D., Plonek, T. & Halfwerk, F. R. In situ and patient-specific simulation-based training for low volume high complex cardio-thoracic surgery: The Twente practice (2025) [Contribution to conference › Abstract] Dutch Society for Simulation in Healthcare Conference, DSSH 2025 . Halfwerk, F. R. , Smits, K., Torrenga, F., Speekenbrink, R. G. H., Martina, B. & Arens, J. Surgical Skills training with PRIDE - Pre-clinical Redesign with Inclusiveness, Diversity and Equity (2025) [Contribution to conference › Poster] Dutch Society for Simulation in Healthcare Conference, DSSH 2025 . Nabben, T., Halfwerk, F. R. & Arens, J. Non-Interchangeability between Heart Rate Variability and Pulse Rate Variability During Supine-to-Stand Tests (2025) [Working paper › Preprint]. ArXiv.org. Lin, R., Halfwerk, F. , Laverman, G. D., Donker, D. & Wang, Y. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2502.07535 A training needs analysis to provide fundamentals for a well-designed simulation-based Extracorporeal membrane oxygenator simulator (2025) [Contribution to conference › Poster] TechMed Research Day 2025 . Claybrook, F., Groenier, M., Duinmeijer, W. C., Arens, J. & Halfwerk, F. R. Aging effect on the interchangeability between heart rate variability and pulse rate variability (2025) [Contribution to conference › Abstract] Techmed Researchday 2025 . Lin, R., Halfwerk, F. R. , Laverman, G. D., Donker, D. W. & Wang, Y. ECMOve: Advancing ECMO Patient Mobility through Innovative Design (2025) [Contribution to conference › Poster] 13th European Extracorporeal Life Support Organization Annual Conference, EuroELSO 2025 . van Galen, D. J. M., Hulshof, S., Hogt, R., Meinders, Q., Halfwerk, F. R. & Arens, J. Innovative Neonatal Therapy: Artificial Placenta (ArtPlac) Providing Combined Lung and Kidney Support (2025) [Contribution to conference › Poster] 13th European Extracorporeal Life Support Organization Annual Conference, EuroELSO 2025 . van Galen, D. J. M., Rochow, N., Halfwerk, F. R. & Arens, J. Research profiles As a Technical Physician in Cardio-Thoracic Surgery, I am involved in courses and modules of Technical Medicine, Health Sciences and Biomedial Engineering. Together with Erik Groot Jebbink, we completely revised the applied Surgical Skills course in 2015 in the Master phase of Technical Medicine.
Next, I am daily supervisor of interns in Technical Medicine at the Department of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery, Thorax Centrum Twente, Medisch Spectrum Twente Hospital.
Affiliated study programs Courses academic year 2025/2026 Courses in the current academic year are added at the moment they are finalised in the Osiris system. Therefore it is possible that the list is not yet complete for the whole academic year.
Courses academic year 2024/2025 
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