 |
Freek Beekman |
Freek Beekman received his M.Sc. degree in physics in 1991 from Nijmegen University and his Ph.D. degree in 1995 from Utrecht University, The Netherlands. His Ph.D. thesis was on fully three-dimensional reconstruction of Single Photon Emission Computer Tomography (SPECT) images. Currently he is a physicist at the Dept. of Nuclear Medicine and leader of the group “Tomographic Instrumentation and Reconstruction” at the University Medical Center Utrecht. Freek Beekman (co-)authored over 30 peer reviewed journal papers and wrote several book chapters and patent applications. He is a member of the IEEE and the Society of Nuclear Medicine. He served as conference chair of the 1999 International Meeting on Three-Dimensional Image Reconstruction in Radiology and Nuclear Medicine and is guest editor of a special issue of IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging on volumetric reconstruction of medical images, appearing in spring 2000.
|
Freek Beekman |
Freek Beekman’s research comprises the development of image formation models, the acceleration and refinement of discrete image reconstruction methods, in particular for quantitative SPECT, and the development of tomographic instrumentation. As a recognition of his work on quantitative SPECT, he was presented with the ADAC Clinical Research Award at the 1995 European Annual Nuclear Medicine Meeting. Freek Beekman and his co-workers recently introduced an extremely fast method to accurately carry out scatter calculations in non-uniform media. The method is suitable for scatter correction during reconstruction of emission tomography images. Another achievement is the invention and development of an improved transmission CT system for combined use with SPECT.
In addition, Freek Beekman has contributed to projects on (i) MRI imaging, (ii) etching for chip manufacturing, and (iii) cost-effective recording of bio-electric signals (EEG, EMG) during sports using Sony Walkman recorders. He collaborates with several academic and industrial groups world-wide. From March until December 2000, he is a visiting scientist at the Crump Institute for Biomedical Imaging, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA.
In the early eighties Freek Beekman was active in dirt-bike racing and long-distance running, and he was a member of the rock-band Tornado, from Twente, The Netherlands. He is still an active runner, and he enjoys scuba diving and playing Flamenco guitar.
The award was presented last October at the Medical Imaging Conference in Seattle. His citation reads: “For contributions to instrumentation, modeling, simulation, reconstruction and analysis of SPECT”.
Freek Beekman can be reached at the Image Sciences Institute, Utrecht University Hospital, Room E02.222, Heidelberglaan 100, 3584CX Utrecht, The Netherlands; http://www.isi.uu.nl; Phone: +31-30-2507779 or 2507773; Fax: +31-30- 2542531; E-mail: freek@isi.uu.nl