Richard Lopata is an Associate Professor at the TU/e research group Cardiovascular Biomechanics (department of Biomedical Engineering) where he leads the PULS/e lab, Photoacoustics & Ultrasound Laboratory Eindhoven.  The PULS/e lab facilitates research on technology development, such as ultrasound functional imaging, photoacoustics and image-based modeling; and more applied science, in particular ultrasound-based biomechanical modeling for improved clinical decision making.

In his research, Richard Lopata aims amongst others at the ultrasonic characterization of vulnerable arteries, such as aneurysms and plaques. A patient-specific biomechanical model of these arteries may help to better assess rupture risk, and ultrasound has the ability to provide highly detailed information on plaque geometry and distensibility. A second research line concerns the development and testing of 2-D and 3-D ultrasound imaging techniques for the assessment of cardiac function. The focus here is on acquisition, algorithms and methods that process the (raw) ultrasound data to produce measurements, needed in the clinic, and on methods to validate these measurements. These functional imaging techniques include motion/strain imaging, flow imaging and multi-perspective ultrasound imaging. Recent efforts are aimed at the assessment of cardiac function during exercise, together with USONO (spin-off company).

Photoacoustic imaging techniques, aimed at skin disease and plaque vulnerability assessment, are developed and validated in a preclinical setting.

Close collaborations with both clinical and technical partners were established over the years, paramount for a successful translation of these techniques from bench (lab) to bedside (clinic).