Curriculum Vitae

Education

PhD in BioMechanical Engineering
TU Delft - Delft, The Netherlands
KU Leuven - Leuven, Belgium
Sept. 2019 ‑ ca. Jan. 2024

Thesis title: Development of ultra‑thin multi‑steerable catheter technology suited for soft‑robotic navigation through complex vascular structures
ESR 1 in the ATLAS‑ITN consortium

My research has two main goals:

To combine soft‑robotic actuation with advanced steering technology inspired by clever design principles from nature (octopus, wasp) to develop novel ultrathin multi‑steerable catheters for navigation through complex lumens.
To include knowledge on human depth perception and eye‑hand coordination, to optimize HMIs to allow intuitive control over the multi‑steerable catheters designs from 3D control actions and 2D CT/MRI images.

MEngSc in Mechanical Engineering (by research)
University College Cork - Cork, Ireland
INSA & IHU Strasbourg - Strasbourg, France
Jun. 2016 ‑ Oct. 2018

Thesis title: Design and Development of a Catheter Actuation System
I built and tested a manual actuation handle for a steerable electromagnetically‑guided bronchoscopy catheter, starting from a custom kinematic model of the relationship between steering tendon displacement and catheter tip pose.

BEng in Biomedical Engineering
Cork Institute of Technology - Cork, Ireland
Sept. 2011 ‑ Jun. 2016

Completed my BEng in Biomedical Engineering with First‑Class Honours

Final year project: 3D printing soft PVC ‑ I successfully adapted my existing FDM 3D printer to print with a liquid PVC plastisol, allowing the 3D printing of soft (approx. Shore 20A) materials.

Leaving Certificate
Bandon Grammar School - Bandon, Ireland
Sept. 2005 ‑ Sept. 2011

Graduated from secondary school with a leaving certificate of 455 (out of a max. 600) points

Experience

TU Delft - Delft, The Netherlands
PhD Candidate Since Sep. 2019
Research into the design of thin, multi‑steerable catheter technology suited for soft‑robotic navigation through complex vascular structures.

MAAS Ltd. - Ballincollig, Ireland
Design Engineer Jan. 2019 ‑ Aug. 2019
Part‑time product design work including the design of enabling devices for pediatric patients with cerebral palsy, and custom CNC machine tools for laser engraving and marking.

Dept. of Physics, University College Cork - Cork, Ireland
Technical Officer Jan. 2019 ‑ Aug. 2019
Design and prototype manufacturing for physics research, public education outreach, preparation of lecture demonstration materials, assisting the setup and teaching of physics labs, maintenance of cryogenic, vacuum, and optical equipment.

IHU Strasbourg - Strasbourg, France
Biomedical Engineering Fellow Jul. 2017 ‑ Dec. 2018
Design and prototype manufacturing for various innovation and research projects involving: surgical training and evaluation, Hyperspectral imaging and augmented reality, endoscopic assistance tools, high pressure fluid dissector / injectors, choledocoscopy and organ simulation for interventional endoscopy training, and many other minor prototyping jobs, as well as mentoring of undergraduate interns.

IHU Strasbourg - Strasbourg, France
Biomedical Engineering Intern Aug. 2016 ‑ Jul. 2017
A year ‑ long internship at IHU Strasbourg during which I worked on my master’s research on steerable catheters, while also mentoring undergraduate interns and collaborating with surgeons on projects such as resuscitative balloon occlusion of the aorta (REBOA).

Teleflex Medical Ltd. / Willy Rüsch GmbH - Kernen, Germany
Laboratory / QA Intern Mar. 2015 ‑ Aug. 2015
Regulatory Affairs: Maintenance of technical files and updating of device risk analyses with post market surveillance data
Notified body audit preparation: Planning and executing device testing after real‑time and simulated aging to support technical documentation
Product performance: Testing compliance of medical devices with their relevant standards, use of ANSI tables for sample size determination, sample acquisition, testing protocol preparation, testing and formulation of reports
Lab duties: day‑to‑day testing of raw materials and finished goods, incoming goods inspections

Hobbies

Programming (python, C++, Visual Basic), Cooking, 3D printing & additive manufacturing (particularly my customized Prusa i3 mk3s), CNC, Arduino, product design, electronics, hill walking, surfing, sailing, cycling

Honours & Awards

Winning Team Coach 2017 BEST innovation on‑site course, Strasbourg, France
Winning Team Member 2016 BEST innovation on‑site course, Strasbourg, France

Conference Presentations

11th Conference on New Technologies for Computer/Robot Assisted Surgery (CRAS) - Napoli, Italy - April 2022
Co-author, Extended Abstract and Prototype Demonstration
Proof‑of‑Concept Medical Robotic Platform for Endovascular Catheterization

29th Conference of the international Society for Medical Innovation and Technology (iSMIT) - Torino, Italy - November 2017
Presented work undertaken as part of my master’s project
O103: Mechanical catheter navigation with electromagnetic tracking to peripheral airway targets

Surgetica 2017 - Strasbourg, France - November 2017
Presented work undertaken as part of my master’s project
O98: Autonomous Balloon Management for Endovascular Occlusion

29th Conference of the international Society for Medical Innovation and Technology (iSMIT) - Torino, Italy - November 2017
90-second teaser presentation
Electromagnetic instrument tracking in the hybrid OR

Journal Publications

C. Culmone, F. S. Yikilmaz, F. Trauzettel and P. Breedveld, “Follow-The-Leader Mechanisms in Medical Devices: A Review on Scientific and Patent Literature,” in IEEE Reviews in Biomedical Engineering, vol. 16, pp. 439-455 (2023). doi.org/10.1109/RBME.2021.3113395

J. Bloemberg, F. Trauzettel, B. Coolen, D. Dodou, P. Breedveld, “Design and evaluation of an MRI-ready, self-propelled needle for prostate interventions.” in PLOS ONE, vol 17(9) (2022). doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0274063

S. Kanaji, R. Watanabe, P. Mascagni, F. Trauzettel, T. Urade, F. Longo, L. Guerriero, S. Perretta, B. Dallemagne, Y. Kakeji, and J. Marescaux, “Three-dimensional imaging improved the laparoscopic performance of inexperienced operators: a prospective trial.” in Surgical Endoscopy, vol. 34, pp. 5083–5091 (2020). doi.org/10.1007/s00464-019-07308-6

S. Hinds, H.A. Jaeger, R. Burke, B. O’Sullivan, J. Keane, F. Trauzettel, B. Marques, S. Cotin, B. Bird, H.O. Leira, E.F. Hofstad, O.V. Solberg, T. Langø, and P. Cantillon-Murphy, “An open electromagnetic tracking framework applied to targeted liver tumour ablation.” in Int J Comput Assist Radiol Surg., vol. 14, pp. 1475-1484 (2019). doi.org/10.1007/s11548-019-01983-5

H.A. Jaeger, F. Trauzettel, P. Nardelli, F. Daverieux, E.F. Hofstad, H.O. Leira, M.P. Kennedy, T. Langø and P. Cantillon-Murphy, Peripheral tumour targeting using open-source virtual bronchoscopy with electromagnetic tracking: a multi-user pre-clinical study in Minimally Invasive Therapy & Allied Technologies, vol. 28, pp. 363-372 (2019). doi.org/10.1080/13645706.2018.1544911

C. McCarthy, I. Kanterman, F. Trauzettel, H.A. Jaeger, A. Goetz, B. Colvard, L. Swanstrom and P. Cantillon-Murphy, Automated Balloon Control in Resuscitative Endovascular Balloon Occlusion of the Aorta in IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, vol. 66, pp. 1723-1729 (2019). doi.org/10.1109/TBME.2018.2878642

H.A. Jaeger, A.M. Franz, K. O’Donoghue, A. Seitel, F. Trauzettel, L. Maier-Hein and P. Cantillon-Murphy, Anser EMT: the first open-source electromagnetic tracking platform for image-guided interventions. in Int J Comput Assist Radiol Surg, vol. 12, pp. 1059–1067 (2017). doi.org/10.1007/s11548-017-1568-7

The Impractical Engineer