Perfusion Technology Group

There are currently no vacancies.

Even though there are currently no specific graduate research positions advertised, our research group regularly offers opportunities to participate in ongoing research projects.

Students interested in our research topics are therefore welcome to send an unsolicited application. Depending on the project and current funding, we will review potential areas of work and scope of employment on a case-by-case basis.

Employment conditions are governed by applicable legal and university regulations. Compensation is based on the currently valid pay scales for Student Assistants and Research Assistants at TU Dresden.

Requirements:

• Enrollment at a university
• Knowledge of CAD (preferably Inventor)
• Interest in working in a medical setting

Please submit your application materials, including your resume and a current transcript, via email to:

Dr.-Ing. Susanne Kromnik
susanne.kromnik@tu-dresden.de

If you are interested in taking part in an Oberseminar in our subject areas, please contact us!

Work is possible in the following subject areas:

• ECMO applications
  Support with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation is used as a rescue procedure when care via the lungs using invasive ventilation can no longer be guaranteed. ECMO therapy ranges from a few hours to several weeks. The key component of ECMO is the oxygenator. This is where oxygen is enriched and carbon dioxide is eliminated from the blood. The functionality of this component in the ECMO system is of crucial importance.
• 3D printing for medical technology
  Additive manufacturing of components is a fast and cost-effective process for the production of very small series. This process is also being used more and more frequently in the field of medical technology.
• Kidney, kidney perfusion and organ replacement therapy
  The failure of the kidney can be compensated for by various technical procedures. Kidney transplantation is the only curative procedure. Donor shortages and demographic change have a direct impact on the number and quality of donated organs. There are various technical possibilities in research to maintain or improve the quality of organs.

Individual topic proposals related to the working group's current topics are welcome at any time.

Suggested topics for research papers and theses include:

• Development of device components and control strategies for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO)
  • Evaluation concepts for oxygenators in ECMO applications
  • Design of in silico models for ECMO
  • Modeling of gas exchange in oxygenators using MATLAB/Simulink
• Development of device concepts for ex vivo organ perfusion

  • Further development of existing topological concepts with a view to optimized usability

• Research in the field of (additive) manufacturing technologies for medical technology
  • Design of quality assurance methods
  • Development of test benches for testing oxygenators
  • Optimization and modularization of an existing silicone 3D printing system
• Droplet-based fabrication of bioactive microspheres for tissue engineering
  (Topic in collaboration with FILK in Freiberg)

Our partners offer the following topics or positions:

VIVE-Medtech

• Open positions at VIVE-Medtech

Pulmonary Engineering Group, Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Faculty of Medicine Carl Gustav Carus

• Identification of recruitable areas in the thorax computed tomogram using deep neural networks
• Modeling of overventilated lung tissue and determination of lung volumes in the computed tomogram
• Comparative modeling of nonlinear respiratory mechanics with respect to dependence on airway flow

© S. Kromnik

Our work focuses on the further technical development of ECMO therapy (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation). This involves enriching the patient's blood with oxygen outside the body using an oxygenator. By using continuously measuring sensors, we obtain data on lung function and the ECMO circuit. This information makes it possible to monitor the course of the therapy and to control the treatment in a more targeted manner and more safely. Our aim is to use innovative technology to make ECMO therapy more effective and patient-friendly. 

© S. Kromnik

We develop technical solutions for normothermic kidney perfusion - a procedure in which donor kidneys are perfused with a medium (usually blood or blood components) at body temperature prior to transplantation.
The aim is to assess the organ quality outside the body by combining modern equipment technology with intelligent evaluation algorithms to precisely and objectively assess the functionality of the kidneys. In this way, we help to make transplantation medicine safer and more successful.

As part of the ASYS-Transplant project, the working group developed an assistance system for the functional assessment of donor kidneys in transplantation.
The following project objectives were pursued:

• the development of a medical device-compliant prototype for normothermic whole blood perfusion of kidneys
• the development of algorithms for an objective assessment of organ quality prior to transplantation using a scoring system

The use of different ventilation modes is becoming increasingly important when transporting critically ill patients by helicopter. At the same time, the use of high oxygen levels - for example in high-flow therapy - poses an increased risk of fire and explosion. Using modern measurement technology and modeling, we investigate oxygen enrichment in the helicopter cabin and can draw conclusions about patient and user safety.

© S. Kromnik