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 Evaluation Study Hospital Computer Science 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 Jump to: 2024 | 2023
Ex vivo validation of magnetically actuated intravascular untethered robots in a clinical setting (2024) Communications Engineering, 3 . Article 68. Ligtenberg, L.-J. W., Rabou, N. C. A., Goulas, C., Duinmeijer, W., Halfwerk, F. R. , Arens, J., Lomme, R., Magdanz, V., Klingner, A., Klein Rot, E. A. M., 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/s44172-024-00215-2 Comparison of Delirium Observation Screening Scale versus Single-Channel EEG after Cardiac Surgery in elderly patients: Brain Pro-TCT Study (2024) [Contribution to conference › Poster] 19th Annual Meeting of the European Delirium Association, EDA 2024 . Ten Broeke, M., Henckens, W. P. R., Weierink, A., Speekenbrink, R. G. H., van der Palen, J. & Halfwerk, F. R. Three-dimensional heart modelling of hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy for in situ patient-specific simulation to optimise septal myectomy (2024) Innovations: Technology and Techniques in Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery (E-pub ahead of print/First online). Smits, K., Speekenbrink, R. G. H., Hekman, E. E. G., Koenrades, M. A., Heeringa, T., Arens, J. & Halfwerk, F. R. https://doi.org/10.1177/15569845241273538 A Mathematical Model for Skin Sympathetic Nerve Activity Simulation (2024) [Working paper › Preprint]. ArXiv.org. Lin, R., Halfwerk, F. , Donker, D., Laverman, G. D. & Wang, Y. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2408.05934 Assessing Realism Of Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenator Simulators – Development And Application Of An Objective Fidelity Classification Framework (2024) The International journal of artificial organs, 47 (7), 421-565. Halfwerk, F. R. , Duinmeijer, W. & Arens, J.https://doi.org/10.1177/03913988241279540 Development of a Novel Artificial Lung And Kidney Assist Device – From Fiber Specifications to Device Design (2024) The International journal of artificial organs, 47 (7), 474-475. Martins Costa, A., Halfwerk, F. , Wiegmann, B., Thiel, J.-N., Neidlin , M. & Arens, J.https://doi.org/10.1177/03913988241279540 Simulation-Based Training With Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenator Simulators – A Training Needs Analysis (2024) The International journal of artificial organs, 47 (7), 421-565. Halfwerk, F. R. , Duinmeijer, W., Groenier, M. & Arens, J.https://doi.org/10.1177/03913988241279540 The artificial placenta - Development of a lung and kidney assist device for criticallly ill preterm neonates (2024) The International journal of artificial organs, 47 (7), 421-565. van Galen, D., Rochow, N., Haag, U., Fusch, C., Martins Costa, A., Halfwerk, F. & Arens, J.https://doi.org/10.1177/03913988241279540 Contemporary CABG practice in the Netherlands 2005 – 2020: Increased arterial grafting, stable cardiopulmonary bypass use, good outcomes (2024) [Contribution to conference › Poster] Nederlandse Hart Registratie Symposium 2024 . Halfwerk, F. R. , Speekenbrink, R. G. H., Meinema, S., Roefs, M. M., Plonek, T. & Cardiochirurgie, R. Classifying simulators and simulations for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) - A review with a new framework on classifying fidelity (2024) In SESAM Annual Meeting 2024 Abstract Book (pp. 380-381). Halfwerk, F. R. , Duinmeijer, W., Swol, J., Brio, J. R. d., Obreja, V. L., Puślecki, M. & Arens, J. https://eu.eventscloud.com/website/12346/home/ ECMOve: A Mobilization Device for Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Patients (2024) ASAIO Journal, 70 (5), 377-386. van Galen, D. J. M., Meinders, Q., Halfwerk, F. R. & Arens, J.https://doi.org/10.1097/mat.0000000000002153 The optimal treatment for patients with stage I non-small cell lung cancer: minimally invasive lobectomy versus stereotactic ablative radiotherapy – a nationwide cohort study (2024) Lung cancer, 191 . Article 107792. Ruiter, J. C. d., Noort, V. v. d., Diessen, J. N. A. v., Smit, E. F., Damhuis, R., Hartemink, K. & Halfwerk, F. R. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lungcan.2024.107792 TRACKing or TRUSTing transfusion prediction: Validation of Red blood cell transfusion prediction models for low transfusion rate cardiac surgery and high transfusion rate post-cardiotomy veno-arterial extracorporeal life support (2024) [Contribution to conference › Poster] 12th EuroELSO 2024 . Haumann, R. G., Alp, R., Płonek, T. P., Niesten, E. D., Maaskant, J. M., Mariani, S., Wiegmann, B., Arens, J., van der Palen, J. & Halfwerk, F. R. Influence of utilizing hemodialysis membranes outside-in on solute clearance and filtration efficiency – One step towards a novel combined lung and kidney support device (2024) Journal of membrane science, 698 . Article 122575. Martins Costa, A., Halfwerk, F. R. , Thiel, J.-N., Wiegmann, B., Neidlin, M. & Arens, J.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.memsci.2024.122575 Towards a novel combined lung and kidney support device – effect of utilizing hemodialysis membranes outside-in on solute clearance and filtration efficiency in full blood (2024) Perfusion, 39 (1_suppl), 202-202. Article 62. Martins Costa, A., Halfwerk, F. R. , Wiegmann, B., Thiel, J.-N., Neidlin, M. & Arens, J.https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/epub/10.1177/02676591241239138 Designing a Patient-Centred Educational Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Simulator (EduECMO) – A training needs analysis with international experts (2024) [Contribution to conference › Abstract] Dutch Society for Simulation in Healthcare (DSSH) annual conference 2024 . Halfwerk, F. R. , Duinmeijer, W., Arens, J. & Groenier, M. Combined Respiratory and Renal Support in a Novel Device - Influence of Utilizing Dialysis Fibers Outside-In on Full Blood Clearance and Filtration Efficiency (2024) ASAIO Journal . Martins Costa, A., Halfwerk, F. R. , Thiel, J.-N., Wiegmann, B., Neidlin, M. & Arens, J.https://journals.lww.com/asaiojournal/citation/2024/05003/asaio_2024_70th_annual_meeting_abstracts.1.aspx Helical Propulsion in Low-Re Numbers with Near-Zero Angle of Attack (2023) In 2023 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS) (pp. 2647-2652). IEEE. Ligtenberg, L.-J. W., Ekkelkamp, I. A. A., Halfwerk, F. R. , Goulas, C., Arens, J., Warlé, M. & Khalil, I. S. M. https://doi.org/10.1109/iros55552.2023.10341627 A mobilization poster stimulates early in-hospital rehabilitation after cardiac surgery: a prospective sequential-group study (2023) Journal of Cardiothoracic Surgery, 18 (1), 1-11. Article 83. Halfwerk, F. R. , Wielens, N., Hulskotte, S., Brusse-Keizer, M. & Grandjean, J. G.https://doi.org/10.1186/s13019-023-02173-w Patient Centred Educational ECMO Simulator (EduECMO) – An international training needs analysis (2023) [Contribution to conference › Abstract] SPP 2014 – TOWARDS AN IMPLANTABLE LUNG<br/>AUTUMN RESEARCH MEETING 2023 . Halfwerk, F. R. , Duinmeijer, W., Groenier, M. & Arens, J. Trends and Outcomes of Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting in the Netherlands 2005 – 2020: A Netherlands Heart Registration Registry-based Study (2023) [Contribution to conference › Abstract] Najaarscongres Nederlandse Vereniging voor Cardiologie / Nederlandse Vereniging voor Thoraxchirurgie 2023 . Halfwerk, F. R. , Plonek, T., Meinema, S., Roefs, M. M., Grandjean, J. G., Speekenbrink, R. G. H. & Cardiochirurgie, R. https://www.cardiologie.nl/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Abstracts-NVT.pdf Sex-stratified patterns of emergency cardiovascular admissions prior and during the COVID-19 pandemic (2023) Scientific reports, 13 (1). Article 17924. Gajewski, P., Błaziak, M., Urban, S., Garus, M., Braunschweig, F., Caldeira, D., Gawor, A., Greenwood, J. P., Guzik, M., Halfwerk, F. R. , Iwanek, G., Jarocki, M., Jura, M., Krzystek-Korpacka, M., Lewandowski, Ł., Lund, L. H., Matysiak, M., Pinto, F., Sleziak, J., … Zymliński, R.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-44400-3 CABG practice in the Netherlands 2005 – 2020: More arterial grafting, stable pump use, good outcomes (2023) [Contribution to conference › Other] 37th Annual Meeting of the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery, EACTS 2023 . Halfwerk, F. R. , Speekenbrink, R. G. H., Meinema, S., Roefs, M. M., Plonek, T., Grandjean, J. G. & Cardiochirurgie, R. ET-BE Rules and Guidelines for Writing a Thesis (2023) [Other contribution › Other contribution]. University of Twente. Halfwerk, F. R. , Kalpathy Venkiteswaran, V. & Keemink, A. Q. L. https://doi.org/10.3990/1.9789036551557 Principles of Technical Medicine - Domain of Image-guided interventions (2023) [Non-textual form › Web publication/site]. University of Twente. Kraeima, J., Schröder, F., Boers, T., Koenrades, M., Ruiter, S., van Alphen, M. J. A., Ooms, A., Verhoeven, R., Smit, J. & Halfwerk, F. https://www.principles-of-tm.nl/tm-disciplines/image-guided-interventions/ 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 2024/2025 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 2023/2024 
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