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Erica Doutel

About

Erica Doutel is an Assistant Researcher at CEFT with a background in chemical engineering, holding a PhD in Fluid Mechanics from the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Porto. Her doctoral research focused on applying Fluid Mechanics and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) to the medical field, specifically in developing and validating a tool for patient-specific blood flow analysis to enhance understanding and prevention of atherosclerosis.

During her PhD, Erica took charge of manufacturing patient-specific polymeric artificial arteries, utilizing real computer tomography data from hospital patients and reconstructing them in SolidWorks® software. The experimental validation of the CFD study led her to acquire in-depth knowledge in microfluidics, enabling her to identify optimal devices for mimicking the coronary artery environment and analyzing blood flow.

From 2016 to 2019, Erica shifted her focus to the industrial sector, joining the Thermal and Fluids R&D team at Efacec Power Solutions. There, she specialized in modeling and enhancing the cooling efficiency of Power Transformers using advanced CFD methodologies. During her tenure, she conducted impactful analyses of heat transfer effectiveness, overseeing model validation with real-scale transformers and scaled-down models to optimize their thermal performance. This transition marked a significant phase in her career, providing invaluable insights and skill development in the industrial sector.

Throughout her professional journey, she has been involved in all stages of product development, from R&D to testing, optimization, supporting quality and certification processes, and overseeing production. Her academic background coupled with industry experience renders her a versatile and autonomous professional. Erica is adept at navigating diverse subjects and projects, with a particular emphasis on Health R&D and product development.

For any inquiries regarding potential partnerships in her domains or others where her expertise could be beneficial, feel free to contact Erica.

Research interests

Microfluidics, Computational Fluid Dynamics, Artificial Intelligence, Health data treatment, Atherosclerosis

Selected publications

  1. Doutel, E.; Viriato, N.; Carneiro, J.; Campos, J.B.L.M.; Miranda, J.M., Geometrical effects in the hemodynamics of stenotic and non-stenotic left coronary arteries—numerical and in vitro approache International Journal for Numerical Methods in Biomedical Engineering 35 (8), 2019. DOI: 10.1002/cnm.3207
  2. Doutel, E.; Carneiro, J.; Campos, J.B.L.M.; Miranda, J.M., Artificial stenosis for computational hemodynamics, Applied Mathematical Modelling 59: 427-440. DOI: 10.1016/j.apm.2018.01.029
  3. Doutel, E.; Carneiro, J.; Campos, J.B.L.M.; Miranda, J.M., Experimental and numerical methodology to analyze flows in a coronary bifurcation, European Journal of Mechanics – B/Fluids 67: 341-356, 2018.DOI: 10.1016/j.euromechflu.2017.09.009
  4. Doutel, E.; Pinto, S.I.S.; Campos, J.B.L.M.; Miranda, J.M., Link between deviations from Murray’s Law and occurrence of low wall shear stress regions in the left coronary arter, Journal of Theoretical Biology 402: 89-99, 2016. DOI: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2016.04.038
  5. Carneiro, J.; Doutel, E.; Campos, J.B.L.M.; Miranda, J. M., Visualization of PDMS Microparticles Formation for Biomimetic Fluids, Micro and Nanosystems 7 (3): 154-158, 2016. DOI: 10.2174/1876402908666160106000558
  6. Doutel, E.; Carneiro, J.; Oliveira, M.S.N.; Campos, J.B.L.M.; Miranda, J.M., Fabrication of 3D Mili-Scale Channels for Hemodynamicstudie,Journal of Mechanics in Medicine and Biology 15 (01): 1550004, 2015. DOI: 10.1142/s0219519415500049
  7. Erica Doutel Costa (2016), Hemodynamics in the Left Coronary Artery – numerical and in vitro approaches, PhD Thesis. https://repositorio-aberto.up.pt/handle/10216/85899.
  8. Doutel, Erica; Pinto, S.I.S.; Campos; J.B.L.M.; Miranda; J.M., µPIV Analysis and Numerical Simulation of the Flow in Mili-Scale Channels Developed for Studies in Hemodynami, In APCBEE Procedia: ICBET2013 – International Conference on Biomedical Engineering and Technology, Copenhagen,Denmark, 132-137. Amesterdam, Netherlands: ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV., 2013.
  9. Doutel, E., Galindo-Rosales, F. J., Campo-Deaño, L., Hemodynamics challenges for the navigation of medical microbots for the treatment of CVDs, Materials, 14(23), Article 7402. 2021. doi: 10.3390/ma14237402