To get the very best images, you need to know exactly how things work

Alexander Raaijmakers is an assistant professor with a joint position at the Eindhoven University of Technology and the University Medical Center Utrecht. In Eindhoven he is a member of the research group Medical Image Analysis at the department of Biomedical Engineering where his focus is on (MRI) education. At the University Medical Center Utrecht, he is embedded in the 7 Tesla Research group of the department of radiology. His expertise is in RF engineering for ultrahigh field MRI, ultrahigh field body imaging and RF safety in MRI. One of his most pronounced achievements is the introduction of dipole antennas as coil array elements in ultrahigh field imaging. He is currently the project leader of several research projects with a total of 5 PhD students, 1 postdoc and 2 RF engineers. The main research goal is to develop supportive technology, hardware and scanning sequences that enable clinical adoption of ultrahigh field MRI for all body imaging targets such as the heart, prostate, breasts, liver and kidneys. In addition, the lessons learned in this area are translated to lower field strengths for advanced coil array design at 3T and RF safety of medical implants.

Alexander Raaijmakers obtained his MSc in Applied Physics at the University of Groningen in 2004. He then started a PhD research project at the radiotherapy department of the University Medical Center Utrecht. His project involved the investigation of radiotherapy dose distributions in the presence of a magnetic field for (back then hypothetical) MRI-guided radiotherapy. During this time he discovered the electron return effect (ERE) and coined the name. In 2008, he finished his PhD-thesis and switched his research field to the newly installed 7 tesla MRI scanner. For the period of 2008-2010 he obtained a Casimir grant on the development of new RF transmit and receive coils for high-field MRI, for which he was in part stationed at Philips Medical Systems (Best, The Netherlands). During this time he acquired extensive knowledge on EM physics in MRI and RF engineering. Since 2013, Alexander Raaijmakers is an assistant professor at UMC Utrecht within the 7T Research Group of the Department of Radiology. In 2016, he was also appointed assistant professor at Eindhoven University of Technology in the research group Medical Image Analysis.