Prof. Dr. Hans T.M. van Schie

Hans T.M. van Schie graduated as Doctor of Veterinary Medicine in 1972 at Utrecht University and specialized in equine orthopedics and sports medicine with special focus on tendons and ligaments in the horse.

He founded 2 clinics for high-performance sports horses and was team doctor and consultant for the Dutch Olympic equestrian teams for many years.

From 2001 he returned to academia, dedicated to research into the ultra-structure of elastic tendons and into the fundamentals of Ultrasound Tissue Characterization (UTC).
His PhD thesis “Ultrasonographic tissue characterization of equine superficial digital flexor tendons; Development and application of computer-aided image analysis” (Utrecht 2004) was awarded with the highest distinction summa cum laude.

From 2005-2012 he was Senior Researcher at the Orthopaedic Research Laboratory, Department of Orthopaedics of Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam. Research was done into the patho-physiology of human tendon tissue, regenerative therapy, rehabilitation and Ultrasound Tissue Characterization (UTC), mainly of the Achilles tendon.
He received an Erasmus Grant for Translational Research in order to validate and implement UTC imaging into human orthopedics.

From 2007-2012 he was Associate Professor for Comparative Research of Tendinopathy at the Department of Equine Sciences of Utrecht University. Research was done into translational aspects of pathogenesis and interventions of human and equine tendon disorders. A surgical model for standardized tendon lesions was designed for placebo controlled evaluation of platelet-rich plasma releasate and mesenchymal cells.

In 2009 he co-founded UTC Imaging and became Director of Research. UTC Imaging is a spin-off from his PhD-research and currently UTC imaging is applied for the monitoring of high-performance athletes and for the evaluation of therapeutic interventions like exercise, regenerative therapies (e.g. focused shockwaves, platelet-rich plasma releasate, autologous cultured tenocytes), surgery and rehabilitation. Major spearheads are to initiate and coordinate multi-center research with academic and clinical institutes for sports orthopedics.

From  2012-2015 he was appointed as Professor, Senior Principal Research Fellow to the department of Physiotherapy of Monash University, Frankston, Australia. Research was focused on monitoring exercise effects, aiming at the design of programs for prevention and rehabilitation of tendon injuries.

From 2015-2018 he was appointed Honorary Senior Clinical Research Fellow at the University College London, Institute of Sport, Exercise and Health.

Since 2012 he is consulting and UTC-scanning tendinopathy at Departments of Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine in (academic) hospitals, centers of excellence in Sports Medicine and professional sports clubs and at equine clinics, in the Netherlands and several countries abroad.

Recent scientific publications about UTC

1. Van Schie HT, Bakker EM, Cherdchutham W, Jonker AM, van de Lest CH, van Weeren PR. (2009) Monitoring of the repair process of surgically created lesions in equine superficial digital flexor tendons by use of computerized ultrasonography. Am J Vet Res. 2009 Jan; 70(1): 37-48.

2. Bosch G, van Weeren PR, Barneveld A, van Schie HT. (2011) Computerised analysis of standardized ultrasonographic images to monitor the repair of surgically created core lesions in equine superficial digital flexor tendons following treatment with intratendinous platelet rich plasma or placebo. Vet J. 2011 Jan; 187(1): 92-98.

3. De Vos RJ, Weir A, Tol JL, Verhaar JA, Weinans H, van Schie HT. (2011) No effects of PRP on ultrasonographic tendon structure and neovascularisation in chronic midportion Achilles tendinopathy. Br J Sports Med. 2011 Apr; 45(5): 387-392.

4. Van Schie HT, de Vos RJ, de Jonge S, Bakker EM, Heijboer MP, Verhaar JA, Tol JL, Weinans H. (2010) Ultrasonographic tissue characterization of human Achilles tendons: quantification of tendon structure through a novel non-invasive approach. Br J Sports Med. 2010 Dec; 44(16): 1153-1159.

Complete list of scientific publications about UTC can be found elsewhere on site (publications section)