Horst Complex

prof.dr. M. Versluis (Michel)

Full Professor Physical and Medical Acoustics Physics of Fluids Group
TNW-POF
Horst Complex ME260
m.versluis@utwente.nl
+31534896824
Business card

BSc Physics 1985, BSc Astronomy 1985, MSc Physics and Astrophysics 1988, PhD Nijmegen 1992) joined University of Twente in 1999. Full Professor Physical and Medical Acoustics in the Physics of Fluids group with research interests in micro- and nanofluidics for medicine and nanotechnology industry. 

Expertise

  • Physics

    • Bubbles
    • Ultrasound
    • Acoustics
    • Contrast
    • Droplet
    • Frequencies
    • Model
    • Responses

Organisations

My research interests lie in the experimental observation of the exciting world of bubbles and jets in multiphase flow phenomena such as air entrainment, sonoluminescence and cavitation.

I am particularly interested in the physics of bubbles and drops used in medical applications, both in imaging and in therapy, and in the physics and control of bubbles and droplets in microfluidics.

Publications

2025

Vascular Flow Phantom of A Cohort-Based Averaged Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm: Design, Fabrication and Characterization (2025)Annals of biomedical engineering. Article 105358 (E-pub ahead of print/First online). Mirgolbabaee, H., Nagel, J. R., Plomp, J., Ghanbarzadeh-Dagheyan, A., Simmering, J. A., Versluis, M., Reijnen, M. M. P. J. & Jebbink, E. G.https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-025-03717-yOptimizing the Radiopacity of an Injectable Polymer on Fluoroscopy used for Treatment of Type II Endoleak After Endovascular Aneurysm Repair (2025)Cardiovascular engineering and technology (E-pub ahead of print/First online). Nagel, J. R., Groot Jebbink, E., Smorenburg, S. P. M., Hoksbergen, A. W. J., Lely, R. J., Versluis, M. & Reijnen, M. M. P. J.https://doi.org/10.1007/s13239-025-00779-wImaging Behind the Plaque: Improved Blood Flow Quantification Using an Iterative Scheme for Active Attenuation Correction (2025)Ultrasound in medicine and biology (E-pub ahead of print/First online). Plomp, J., Ghanbarzadeh-Dagheyan, A., Versluis, M., Lajoinie, G. & Groot Jebbink, E.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2025.02.012Ambient Pressure Sensitivity of Subharmonic Vibrating Single Microbubbles (2025)Ultrasound in medicine and biology (E-pub ahead of print/First online). Spiekhout, S., Wang, Y., Segers, T., Kooiman, K., Versluis, M., Voorneveld, J., de Jong, N. & Bosch, J. G.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2025.01.016Frequency-Domain Decoding of Cascaded Dual-Polarity Waves for Ultrafast Ultrasound Imaging (2025)IEEE transactions on ultrasonics, ferroelectrics and frequency control, 72(3), 321-337. Nawijn, C. L., De Bakker, J. M. K., Segers, T., De Korte, C. L., Versluis, M., Saris, A. E. C. M. & Lajoinie, G.https://doi.org/10.1109/TUFFC.2025.3534429Role of surfactants in droplet formation in piezoacoustic inkjet printing across microsecond-to-second timescales (2025)Physical review applied, 23(2). Article 024076. Rump, M., Diddens, C., Sen, U., Versluis, M., Lohse, D. & Segers, T.https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevApplied.23.024076Stress-strain analysis of single ultrasound-driven microbubbles for viscoelastic shell characterization (2025)The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 157(2), 897-911. Nawijn, C. L., Spiekhout, S., Voorneveld, J., Bosch, J. G., Versluis, M., Segers, T. & Lajoinie, G.https://doi.org/10.1121/10.0035639The LiverTwin: a novel ex-vivo experimental platform for multi-modal image-guided liver cancer treatment studies (2025)[Contribution to conference › Poster] 10th Dutch Biomedical Engineering Conference, BME 2025. van der Hoek, J. L., Krommendijk, M. E., Snoeijink, T. J., Chizari, A., Rook, A., De Bree, K., Greve, J. G. M., Liefers, H. R., Steenbergen, W., Versluis, M., Arens, J., Manohar, S. & Groot Jebbink, E.Waveform-Specific Performance of Deep Learning-Based Super-Resolution for Ultrasound Contrast Imaging (2025)IEEE transactions on ultrasonics, ferroelectrics and frequency control (E-pub ahead of print/First online). Zorgdrager, R., Blanken, N., Wolterink, J. M., Versluis, M. & Lajoinie, G.https://doi.org/10.1109/TUFFC.2025.3537298Controlling the stability of monodisperse phospholipid-coated microbubbles by tuning their buckling pressure (2025)Journal of colloid and interface science, 685, 449-457 (E-pub ahead of print/First online). van Elburg, B., Lassus, A., Cherkaoui, S., Lajoinie, G., Versluis, M. & Segers, T.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcis.2025.01.114

Research profiles

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

Courses academic year 2023/2024

Project area: High-speed imaging techniques down to the nanoseconds timescale reveal the physics of bubble and droplet behavior in acoustic and microfluidic applications for medicine and for  nanotechnology industry.

Current projects

Sidekicks

All of our research is always curiosity-driven. Over the years we have solved some long-standing secrets and misconcep-tions in animal bioacoustics, granular flow, and shear-thinning fluids. These include the origin of the sound of the snapping shrimp, the granular jet formed when a steel ball is dropped into loose very fine sand and the physical explanation of the leaping of shampoo when it is poured into a dish of the fluid.

High-speed Imaging

The quantification of flow phenomena require specialized and sophisticated techniques resolving the highest spatial and temporal resolution. We have developed a range of high-resolution high-speed imaging systems ranging from a basic 25 fps video frame rate up to 25 million frames per second for the truly unique Brandaris 128 ultra high-speed imaging facility, including unprecedented high-speed fluorescence imaging

Micromanipulation

Optical tweezers have found many useful and intriguing applications, ranging from physics to biology. Nowadays, several optical tweezers-based techniques have been developed to perform experiments on micro- and nanoscale systems with well-controlled experimental conditions. In particular, the ability to exert picoNewton forces on micron-sized particles and bubbles is now routinely applied to fields as diverse as the physics of colloids, the study of biomolecular complexes at the single-molecule level and the measurement of cellular mechanical properties.

Inkjet printing

Piezo drop-on-demand inkjet printers are used in an increasing number of applications for their reliable deposition of droplets onto a substrate. The technology is used to create droplets of a few picoliters with drop repetition rates in the order of 10kHz. However, entrapment of an air microbubble into the ink channel can severely impede the productivity and reliability of a printing system. The air bubble disturbs the channel acoustics resulting in disrupted drop formation or temporally failure of the jetting process.

Lab-on-a-Chip Microfluidics

The formation of microscopically small droplets and bubbles with an accurately controlled and narrow size distribution is crucial in a wide variety of products and applications. For example, in medical applications such as diagnostic ultrasound imaging, targeted drug delivery, and drug inhalation therapy, but also in inkjet printing, cosmetics and in the modern food industry.

Ultrasound Cleaning

Cleaning with ultrasound is a well-known and widely used technique, but why and how it works remains unclear until today. In endodontic therapy ultrasonic irrigation improves the success rate of a root canal treatment from 60% to 90%. In IC semiconductor chip cleaning the role of activated bubble is important, however a physical understanding how to improve the cleaning process is lacking.

Ultrasound Therapy

Activated bubbles close to cells can induce cell membrane poration, or sonoporation, allowing local drug and gene delivery. Here we study the interaction of bubbles with cell membranes, pore formation and uptake of model drugs. We also try to clarify the fundamental physical mechanisms underlying the drug delivery potential of liquid perfluorocarbon cavitation nanodroplets.

Ultrasound Imaging

Medical ultrasound imaging is greatly enhanced by the use of ultrasound contrast microbubbles which act as a blood pool agent. Here we study the interaction of the bubbles with ultrasound to improve diagnostic imaging protocols. The detection of targeted single microbubbles allows for disease-specific molecular imaging with ultrasound.

Address

University of Twente

Horst Complex (building no. 20), room ME260
De Horst 2
7522 LW Enschede
Netherlands

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