Ir. L.W. Ligtenberg | People Pages: Find employees & contact details

Leendert-Jan W. (Ewout) Ligtenberg received his bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Engineering and his master’s degree in Robotics from the University of Twente. He is currently a PhD candidate in the Robotics and Mechatronics (RaM) research group at the University of Twente and is also affiliated with Radboud University Medical Center, Department of Surgery. During his master’s studies, he worked at the Surgical Robotics Lab (SRL) at the University of Twente. His research interests include modeling and design of control systems for magnetically controlled microrobots, mechatronic system design, videocapsule technology for medical screening procedures, and more recently, broader applications in medical robotics for robotically assisted surgical interventions.

Expertise

Engineering
- Robot
- Robotics
- X Ray
- Actuation
- Permanent Magnet
- Magnetic Field
Physics
- Maneuverability
- Angle of Attack

Organisations

Leendert-Jan Ligtenberg’s research focuses on the development, motion control, and biomedical application of untethered magnetic microrobots. These microrobots are propelled and steered by externally applied magnetic fields, allowing them to move through confined biological environments without physical connections. His work investigates how to combine magnetic actuation with X-ray imaging to achieve precise, real-time robot localization and navigation. A particular focus is their use in cerebral blood vessels, where X-ray-guided magnetic control could support interventions for conditions such as strokes and brain aneurysms. In addition, his research examines how the robots’ geometry, propulsion, and maneuverability are affected by the mechanical properties of soft tissue, helping to establish their performance limits and potential for minimally invasive medical procedures.

Publications

2026

Performance Estimation and Ex Vivo Validation of Untethered Magnetic Robots in Soft Tissue (2026)Advanced science (E-pub ahead of print/First online). Ligtenberg, L. W., van der Burg, T. J., Kolkman, S. Y., Saavedra Castano, S., Fernández Rivas, D., Klingner, A., Lomme, R. M. L. M., Joziasse, L. S., Wasserberg, D., Liefers, H. R., Ben Ami, D., Sadeh, U., Shoseyov, O., Dagnino, G., Jonkheijm, P., Fütterer, J. J., Stramigioli, S., Nijsen, J. F. W., Warlé, M. C. & Khalil, I. S. M.https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.77011

2025

Dynamic Modeling of a Magnetic Video Capsule for Enhanced Navigation in the Gastrointestinal Tract (2025)[Contribution to conference › Paper] 47th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, EMBC 2025. Bester, E. V., Chen, W., Kobus van der Mijle Meijer, J., Ligtenberg, L.-J. W., Mulder , I., Liefers, H. R., Goulas, C., Wasserberg, D., Jonkheijm, P., Warlé, M., Mersha, A. Y., Braat, H. & Khalil, I. S. M.https://doi.org/10.1109/EMBC58623.2025.11253554Author 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/s44172-025-00353-1Swimming dynamics of screw-shaped untethered magnetic robots in confined spaces (2025)Nonlinear Dynamics, 113(21), 29197-29213. De Jongh, L., Klingner, A., Ligtenberg, L.-J. W., De Boer, M. C. J., van der Jooij, J., Lomme, R. M., Wasserberg, D., Liefers, H. R., Jonkheijm, P., Warlé, M. C. & Khalil, I. S. M.https://doi.org/10.1007/s11071-025-11646-7Non-Buoyant Microrobots Swimming with Near-Zero Angle of Attack (2025)In 2025 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2025) (pp. 16267-16272). IEEE. Ligtenberg, L.-J. W., De Jongh, L., van der Kooij, J., Paul, A., Li, C., Goulas, C., Mohanty, S. & Khalil, I. S. M.https://doi.org/10.1109/IROS60139.2025.11246126Sperm cell empowerment: X-ray-guided magnetic fields for enhanced actuation and localization of cytocompatible biohybrid microrobots (2025)npj Robotics, 3(1). Article 28 (E-pub ahead of print/First online). Magdanz, V., van der Mijle Meijer, J. K., Ligtenberg, L.-J. W., Pervez, Y., LaBrash-White, M., Shabani Dargah, M., Mulder, I., Mohsenkani, S., Gorbet, M., Bouzari, N., Shahsavan, H., Weber, L., Liefers, R. H., Warlé, M. C. & Khalil, I. S. M.https://doi.org/10.1038/s44182-025-00044-1Wireless mechanical and hybrid thrombus fragmentation of ex vivo endovascular thrombosis model in the iliac artery (2025)Applied physics reviews, 12(1). Article 011416. de Boer, M. C. J., Ligtenberg, L.-J. W., Mulder, I., Goulas, C., Klingner, A., Lomme, R., Rot, E. A. M. K., Wasserberg, D., Lu, Y., Liefers, R., van der Mijle Meijer, J. K., Tuijthof, G. J. M., Ben Ami, D., Sadeh, U., Shoseyov, O., Leclerc, J., Becker, A. T., Jonkheijm, P., Warlé, M. & Khalil, I. S. M.https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0233677

2024

X-Ray-Guided Magnetic Fields for Wireless Control of Untethered Magnetic Robots in Cerebral Vascular Phantoms (2024)In 2024 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, IROS 2024 (pp. 4624-4629) (IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems). IEEE. Ligtenberg, L. J. W., De Boer, M. C. J., Mulder, I., Lomme, R., Wasserberg, D., Klein Rot, E. A. M., Ben Ami, D., Sadeh, U., Liefers, H. R., Shoseyov, O., Jonkheijm, P., Warlé, M. & Khalil, I. S. M.https://doi.org/10.1109/IROS58592.2024.10802534Ex 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/s44172-024-00215-2Controlled Locomotion of IRONSperm Clusters: Evaluating Maneuverability with X-Ray-Guided Magnetic Fields (2024)In 2024 10th IEEE/RAS-EMBS International Conference on Biomedical Robotics and Biomechatronics (BioRob) (pp. 883-888). IEEE. van der Mijle Meijer, J. K., Mulder , I., Ligtenberg, L.-J. W., Liefers, H. R., Magdanz, V. & S.M. Khalil, I.https://doi.org/10.1109/BioRob60516.2024.10719702

Research profiles

Current projects

Wireless Robotic Clot Retrieval for Vascular Intervention

The Wireless Robotic Clot Retrieval for Vascular Intervention (WCR) project aims to develop a first-of-its-kind, wireless robotic system to improve clot retrieval procedures. This technology offers a minimally invasive, highly maneuverable alternative to traditional catheter-based methods for treating vascular occlusions, with the untethered robot navigated using X-ray-guided magnetic fields to precisely target and remove clots responsible for strokes, heart attacks, pulmonary embolisms, and below-the-knee emboli.The project seeks to optimize and validate wireless robotics to advance patient outcomes and endovascular interventions.

Our work in medical microrobotics has attracted significant media attention through various dissemination activities.