Rik Vullings

Rik Vullings is an Associate Professor in the Signal Processing Systems group at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e). He holds affiliations with the Eindhoven MedTech Innovation Center, EAISI High Tech Systems, and EAISI Health. His roles include Adjunct appointments in these institutions. He also serves as Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) and co-founder of Nemo Healthcare, a spin-off company commercializing his research on non-invasive fetal electrocardiography. Since June 2024, he is a consultant for Philips.

Educational Background:

• MSc in Applied Physics (Distinction), TU/e, 2005
• PhD in Electrical Engineering (TU/e, 2010), focused on fetal electrocardiogram analysis

Research Interests:

His work centers on model-driven medical signal processing, specifically in perinatology, cardiology, and somnology. Key areas include:

• Development of unobtrusive vital signs monitoring systems
• Machine learning for fetal health assessment and sleep apnea detection
• Integration of wearable technologies for clinical decision support

His innovations include adaptive Kalman filters for ECG enhancement and algorithms for fetal heart rate monitoring. Recent work explores maternal-fetal cardiac coupling and REM sleep disorders.

Key Projects (2022–2028):

• Smart wearable systems for perioperative care (Project Manager)
• MEDEIA: Medical Engineering Innovations (Project Member)
• HASTA: Healthy Ageing through Cardiac Monitoring (Project Manager)
• PISANO SPS: Perioperative Sleep Apnea Innovations (Project Member)

Publications & Awards:

His 176+ publications span fetal monitoring systems and sleep technologies. Notable recognitions include:

• 2012 NWO Veni Grant for pregnancy monitoring research
• 2019 Henk Stassen Award for biomedical engineering contributions

Teaching & Outreach:

He teaches courses such as Machine Learning for Signal Processing and Technology for Care and Cure. His work is featured in media for innovations like light-based sleep apnea wearables.

Labs & Teams:

Led the Biomedical Diagnostics Lab and collaborates with Máxima Medical Center on clinical translation of signal processing tools.