Lara Ruules

I recently graduated as a Clinical Technologist, a relatively new medical–technical profession within the Dutch healthcare system. The program combines medicine and engineering and focuses on the use of technology in diagnostics and treatment.

I specialized in the Sensing & Stimulation track, which explores how signals from the human body can be measured and analyzed (sensing), and how bodily systems can be stimulated using signals (stimulation). Examples include EEG and Deep Brain Stimulation in neurology, and ECG and pacemaker technology in cardiology.

Similar to medical students, I completed one year of clinical training through hands-on hospital rotations, during which I combined patient care with technical assignments across multiple departments.

Through my education and clinical rotations in practice, I developed a personal interest in the organization of healthcare. For my master’s thesis project, I therefore conducted qualitative research on interdisciplinary decision-making between medical specialties in the Emergency Department for patients with multiple conditions.

Healthcare is under increasing pressure. During my education, technology was often presented as the answer to this development. At the same time, much like psychiatry may be one of the more overlooked areas within mainstream medicine, I observed during my study program that there was no attention given to the research and development of technology within this domain of care.

For this reason, I am motivated to work at BlinkLab on a technological solution for a field of healthcare that, under growing pressure, may well benefit the most from innovation.

In March 2024, I joined BlinkLab during one of my clinical rotations in the psychiatry department. For the associated technical assignment, I investigated whether BlinkLab’s technology could be used to predict the onset of schizophrenia in patients who had recently experienced a first psychotic episode.

After completing my internship, I continued working part-time at BlinkLab as a data analyst on the schizophrenia project and as a clinical studies monitor. In my current full-time role, I focus on the clinical adoption and strategic direction of BlinkLab.