Projects
Soft tissue overload prevention based on patient-specific biomechanical modeling in robotic minimally invasive surgery Ghent University
Several challenges will be tackled, an important one being the design of a compact and sterilizable force measurement system. Because safety thresholds can only be defined related to local tissue stresses and strains, the acquired instrument forces and displacements will be translated to these local tissue stresses and strains by means of biomechanical models. Due the typical geometric and mechanical variability of biological tissue, it is ...
Soft tissue overload prevention based on patient-specific biomechanical modelling in robotic minimally invasive surgery. KU Leuven
Vevo 2100 micro-ultrasound machine with anesthesia platform and robotic arms for micromanipulation in small animals. KU Leuven
The Vevo 770 device is a small-scale echography device (mouse, rat, rabbit) that allows imaging with microscopic detail. It will be used to study the developing fetus and cardiac muscle function of fetus and adult animals. Animals can be followed in time, without sacrificing them. Corresponding precision instruments make it possible to perform samplings or injections, making the experiment less invasive. All together, animal welfare can be ...
Expanding the horizon of Bacillus environmental probiotics using experimental evolution KU Leuven
This project aims to characterize the mode of action of cleaning agents based on probiotics and to use experimental evolution to further optimize this mode of action.
Using Experimental Evolution to Optimize Probiotics for their Application in Wound Care KU Leuven
This project aims at delivering the proof-of-concept for the enhancement of probiotics through experimental evolution. By exploiting the evolutionary arms race between probiotics and bacterial pathogens, probiotic strains exposed to competitors in the lab could obtain an 'evolutionary head start', increasing their effectiveness in combating pathogens. This approach could result in a general strategy to improve the effectiveness of existing ...
SEQuential REcolonizaTion [Seqret] - an alternative approach to design next-generation probiotics KU Leuven
The use of and interest in probiotics to modulate the human intestinal microbiota as a therapeutic strategy has sharply increased in recent years. Different microbiome-based studies in various pathologies have identified bacterial markers associated with different diseases. However, the low sample size, methodological differences and the normal-range microbiota variation result in a lack of consensus between many of the studies. To solve, ...
Designing anti-inflammatory probiotics to treat chronic lung inflammation. Ghent University
While inflammation is key to our body’s defence against pathogens, an uncontrolled pro-inflammatory reaction can lead to tissue deterioration and ultimately death. Chronic lung inflammation is the main driver of pathogenesis in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and cystic fibrosis (CF). In COPD patients, chronic lung inflammation is mainly triggered by cigarette smoke exposure, while in CF patients this is due to ...
PROCURE: Defining the future of probiotics for upper respiratory tract diseases KU Leuven
To explore probiotic strategies that can efficiently reduce infections of the upper respiratory tract.