Nicolaas "Klaas" Bom (born 1937) is a Dutch engineer. He was a professor of medical technology in cardiology at the

Erasmus MC Erasmus University Medical Center (Erasmus MC or EMC) is a teaching hospital based in Rotterdam, Netherlands, affiliated with Erasmus University and home to its faculty of medicine. It is the largest and one of the most authoritative scientific uni ...

. His 1970s research on ultrasound technology provided several new medical devices, including the

portable ultrasound Portable ultrasound is a modality of medical ultrasonography that utilizes small and light devices, compared to the console-style ultrasound machines that preceded them. In most cases these mobile ultrasound systems could be carried by hand and in ...

scanner.

Career

Bom was born in

Velsen Velsen () is a municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It is located on both sides of the North Sea Canal. On the north side of the North Sea Canal there is a major steel plant, Tata Steel IJmuiden, formerly known as ...

in 1937. He studied electrical engineering at

Delft University of Technology The Delft University of Technology (TU Delft; ) is the oldest and largest Dutch public university, public Institute of technology, technical university, located in Delft, Netherlands. It specializes in engineering, technology, computing, design, a ...

, writing his dissertation on electromagnetic wave propagation. He subsequently joined the

Royal Netherlands Navy The Royal Netherlands Navy (, ) is the Navy, maritime service branch of the Netherlands Armed Forces. It traces its history to 8 January 1488, making it the List of navies, third-oldest navy in the world. During the 17th and early 18th centurie ...

, became an officer, and did

sonar Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigate, measure distances ( ranging), communicate with or detect objects o ...

research in Italy for six years. In 1968 Bom started working at the cardiology department of the Erasmus MC and engaged in diagnostic echo research. Bom continued his studies and in 1972 obtained his PhD on the topic of echocardiography. He subsequently became head of bioengineering of the Thoraxcenter.

Research

In the 1970s Bom worked on diagnostic ultrasound research. By 1971 he had created a machine that was able to produce a full-view cross-section of a working heart. He also created both the first phased array catheter and the first linear array. Together with the company Organon Teknika his department was also responsible for the development of a

machine in 1976, the Minivisor, which did not become a commercial success. Overall his research group was involved in the areas of echo contrast, intravascular echo catheters and diagnostic ultrasounds in general. During this time Bom also constructed five machines that would be able to display two-dimensional echo's and subsequently distributed these machines around hospitals worldwide. Bom also served for ten years as (co)-director of the ICIN-KNAW, the predecessor to the Dutch Heart Institute. He retired in 2003. Bom was elected a member of the

Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (, KNAW) is an organization dedicated to the advancement of science and literature in the Netherlands. The academy is housed in the Trippenhuis in Amsterdam. In addition to various advisory a ...

in 1993. He is an honorary member of the Dutch Society for Medical Ultrasound and EFSUMB.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bom, Klaas 1937 births Living people Delft University of Technology alumni Dutch electrical engineers Academic staff of Erasmus University Rotterdam Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences People from Velsen Royal Netherlands Navy officers