Rick Volleberg obtains PhD cum laude

On October 9th, 2026, Rick Volleberg succesfully defended his PhD thesis, "Intracoronary Optical Coherence Tomography: Exploring the Full Potential", and was awarded the distinction cum laude.

Rick is one of the founders of the CARA lab. During his PhD he built up deep expertise in optical coherence tomography (OCT) and led the collection and annotation of the data behind the CARA lab's OCT-AID model. This work was essential to setting up the lab and still underpins its research today.

A highlight of his PhD trajectory was the late-breaking presentation of PECTUS-AI at the ESC Congress 2025, published simultaneously in the European Heart Journal and receiving national and international attention. This work marks Rick as a recognized expert in intracoronary imaging.

The CARA lab congratulates Rick on this achievement and wishes him every success in his further career. We look forward to continuing our collaboration and advancing OCT research together!