dr. Michael Stouthandel (PhD)

To improve radiotherapy treatment for breast cancer patients, the radiotherapy  department recently developed a new and improved treatment position (prone crawl position). An important step to standardize treatment in a new treatment position is the development of position specific delineation guidelines. During my PhD I developed new delineation guidelines for the lymphatic target volumes in prone crawl position, with the help of MRI and CT data and anatomical experiments. Apart from making new guidelines, a big part of my PhD revolved around mapping the lymphatic system. Experiments included the development of several methodologies for retrograde lymphatic injection to fill the lymphatics with contrast agent. Contrast filled lymphatics will show up on CT scans, so their position can be related to the surrounding anatomical structures that are used as reference structures for guideline application.

For my postdoc I am fully focusing on lymphatic system anatomy and the possibilities of filling this system with contrast agent, so a more accurate depiction of the lymphatic network can be generated for use in fields such as radiotherapy and surgical oncology. The dissections I perform for this project are on the edge of the visible and microscopic size range. This overlap of different size ranges is quite unique in an anatomical research setting and therefore offers tremendous potential for new discoveries. In my quest to visualize the lymphatic system, I’m currently using microscopic dissections, micro-cannulations, pressure devices, flow studies, medical imaging and medical imaging postprocessing. However, to combine all these different aspects a bit of engineering, 3D printing and a whole lot of imagination are also required to come up with new interdisciplinary research set ups to be able to do research on the edge of what the eye can see. 
As an anatomist and biomedical scientist, I thrive in a multidisciplinary setting and I very much enjoy introducing people in other disciplines to the wondrous world of anatomy and all the research possibilities it holds.
 

• LECR
• Lab address: UZ Gent - Radiotherapiepark, Corneel Heymanslaan 10 - entrance 98, 9000 Gent
• ResearchGate
• LinkedIn
• Michael Stouthandel is interested to receive invitations for talks and presentations