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dr. F.R. Halfwerk (Frank)

Assistant Professor, Principal Investigator of Cardiac Surgery Innovations Lab

Expertise

Engineering & Materials Science
Surgery
Medicine & Life Sciences
Aortic Valve
Coronary Artery Bypass
Coronary Stenosis
Equipment And Supplies
Heart
Heart Failure
Thoracic Surgery

Research

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

Recent
Duinmeijer, W. C. , Fresiello, L., Swol, J., Torrella, P., Riera, J., Obreja, V., Puślecki, M., Dąbrowski, M. , Arens, J. , & Halfwerk, F. R. (2023). Simulators and Simulations for Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation: An ECMO Scoping Review. Journal of Clinical Medicine, 12(5), [1765]. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm12051765
Halfwerk, F. R. (2022). Fostering Diversity, Inclusiveness And Equity In Your Education. Poster session presented at Eat-Meet-Teach for Engineering Technology teachers October 2022, Enschede, Netherlands.
Thoonen, M. , Veltink, P. H. , Halfwerk, F. R. , van Delden, R. , & Wang, Y. (2022). A Movement-Artefact-Free Heart-Rate Prediction System. Paper presented at 49th Computing in Cardiology Conference, CinC 2022, Tampere, Finland. https://doi.org/10.22489/CinC.2022.190
De Graaff, M. R., Hogenbirk, R. N. M., Janssen, Y. F., Elfrink, A. K. E., Liem, R. S. L., Nienhuijs, S. W., De Vries, J. P. P. M., Elshof, J. W., Verdaasdonk, E., Melenhorst, J., Van Westreenen, H. L., Besselink, M. G. H., Ruurda, J. P., Van Berge Henegouwen, M. I., Klaase, J. M., Den Dulk, M., Van Heijl, M., Hegeman, J. H., Braun, J., ... Dutch CovidSurg Collaborative Study Group (2022). Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on surgical care in the Netherlands. British journal of surgery, 109(12), 1282-1292. [znac301]. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjs/znac301
Li, C. , Halfwerk, F. R. , Arens, J. , Misra, S., Warlé, M. C. , & S. M. Khalil, I. (2022). Controlled Helical Propulsion Against the Flow of a Physiological Fluid. Paper presented at 5th Annual International Conference on Manipulation, Automation and Robotics at Small Scales, MARSS 2021, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. https://doi.org/10.1109/marss55884.2022.9870248
Wielens, N., Hulskotte, S. , Brusse-Keizer, M. G. J. , Grandjean, J. G. , & Halfwerk, F. R. (2022). Ziekenhuis mobilisatie na hartchirurgie: De Bewegen is herstellen! poster verbetert het fysiek functioneren op activiteit niveau. Poster session presented at Congres Cardiovasculaire Preventie en Hartrevalidatie 2022 , Ede, Netherlands.
Wielens, N., Roerdink, K., de Man, F. H. A. F., Lynch, W. , & Halfwerk, F. R. (2022). Consensus over postoperatieve leefregels na hartchirurgie: Zoveel mensen, zoveel wensen. Poster session presented at Congres Cardiovasculaire Preventie en Hartrevalidatie 2022 , Ede, Netherlands.
ten Dam, L., Dijkstra, K., ter Weeme, M. , & Halfwerk, F. R. (2022). Effectiviteit van eHealth in de thuissituatie voor cardio-chirurgische patiënten: Reductie van angstklachten en verbetering van kwaliteit van leven?. Poster session presented at Congres Cardiovasculaire Preventie en Hartrevalidatie 2022 , Ede, Netherlands.

UT Research Information System

Google Scholar Link

Education

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.
Based on our own experience in different surgical specialities and our goal to give students a holistic approach on the surgical route, we now provide applied surgical skills in a simulation-based context.

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 Programmes

Bachelor

Master

Courses Academic Year  2022/2023

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  2021/2022

Contact Details

Visiting Address

University of Twente
Faculty of Engineering Technology
Horst Complex (building no. 20), room W115
De Horst 2
7522LW  Enschede
The Netherlands

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Mailing Address

University of Twente
Faculty of Engineering Technology
Horst Complex  W115
P.O. Box 217
7500 AE Enschede
The Netherlands

Additional Contact Information

Fields of interest

Cardio-Thoracic Surgery
Reconstructive Medicine
Biomaterials
Quality and Safety in Health Care

Always looking for collaboration projects (public/private).

See also: https://www.mst.nl/thoraxcentrum

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