Computational/Computer Science Internship

Computational/Computer Science Internship

Location: Nieuw-Vennep, The Netherlands (Hybrid)

Minimum Duration: 12 weeks

Internship Compensation: €400/month

About Surgical Reality

Surgical Reality is a MedTech startup developing advanced 3D visualization software for surgical practice, powered by cutting-edge computer vision and AI algorithms. Our mission is to give surgeons patient-specific anatomical models that enhance surgical insight, confidence, and treatment outcomes. Over the past years, we have developed a product for complex lung surgery that surgeons use both preoperatively and intraoperatively - essentially a GPS for the operating room. Our lung product has recently received CE and FDA certification and is now being introduced to the market.

One of our unique selling points is our state-of-the-art interactive 3D model of the lungs. This model allows the user to deform the lung and receive a realistic, real-time response, visualized directly through the game engine Unity. It helps surgeons see a realistic representation of the current state of the lungs during surgery, which is particularly valuable given how deformable lung tissue is. The simulation relies on a finite element method applied to an underlying volumetric mesh. The core challenge is balancing realism with real-time responsiveness - a matter of computational complexity - while also ensuring the volumetric mesh accurately represents the lung's anatomical structures.

Your Role

As a Computational Science/Computer Science intern, you will play a key role in optimizing our model to keep pushing the state of the art. There are multiple areas in which you could contribute. Examples include:

• Mesh refinement: To achieve a more realistic simulation, we need surface and volume mesh refinement to generate a tetrahedral mesh for the FEM that represents the volume and its subdomains. This would also enable cutting and collision interactions. The goal of mesh refinement is to optimize for multiple, often conflicting objectives — for instance, a perfect mesh should maximize edge lengths while also maximizing the minimal dihedral angle. State-of-the-art approaches optimize these features using heuristics, which do not perform well in our use case. Is it possible to develop a novel algorithm that optimizes these multiple objectives simultaneously? Could metaheuristics, which typically perform well in multi-objective optimization, be a viable approach?
• Collision handling: Another way to increase the realism of the simulation is by adding collisions. A lung consists of two or three lobes, which are pushed around by the surgeon during the procedure. A realistic simulation would need to account for collisions between these lobes. Can collisions be incorporated into the model without compromising performance, while keeping the response real-time?

Responsibilities

• Review scientific literature and contribute to research and development innovations.
• Develop and test state-of-the-art 3D modelling techniques.
• Collaborate with the team on new developments in imaging applications.

• Your Profile
• Last year BSc or MSc Computational or Computer Science.
• Familiarity with C#, C++, or other relevant programming languages.
• Experience in general purpose GPU programming is a plus.
• Strong collaboration and communication skills, with the ability to work effectively within a multidisciplinary team.
• Interest in medical technology and its applications.
• Affinity for mathematics, geometry, or numerical methods is a plus.
• Experience with Unity or other game engines is a plus.

What We Offer

• €400/month internship compensation for full-time & part-time negotiable.
• Hybrid working model (remote + on-site at our tech campus in Nieuw-Vennep).
• Free on-site lunches.
• Work in a dynamic and interdisciplinary team.
• Opportunity to visit hospitals and see your work in clinical practice.