Software Program Could Reduce Cardiovascular Complications

New emerging technologies could soon make it easier to detect deadly heart conditions leading to improvements in preventative methods and treatments. One such technology, the ElectroMap, is an innovative new open-source software that detects electrical activity in the heart. Developed by a team of interdisciplinary scientists at the University of Birmingham and in collaboration with counterparts in the UK, Netherlands and Australia.

Electrical activity controls the pumping ability of the heart which triggers heart muscle cells to contract and relax. In some cardiovascular diseases, like arrhythmia, the hearts electrical activity is affected.

Currently, researchers can already record and analyze the electrical behavior of the heart using optical and electrode mapping. However, the widespread need of these technologies is limited due to a lack of appropriate software.ElectroMap processes, analyzes, and maps complex cardiac data.

The software program was led by researchers from the School of Computer Science and the Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences at the University of Birmingham.

“We believe that ElectroMap will accelerate innovative cardiac research and lead to wider use of mapping technologies that help to prevent the incidence of arrhythmia,” says Dr. Kashif Rajpoot, senior lecturer and program director for computer science at the University of Birmingham Dubai.

"This is a robustly validated open-source flexible tool for processing and by using novel data analysis strategies we have developed, this software will provide a deeper understanding of heart diseases, particularly the mechanisms underpinning potentially lethal arrhythmia."

Watch the video below to learn more about electrical activity in the heart:

The prevalence of cardiac disease is on the rise. The need to improve prevention and treatment methods lies in an understanding of electrical behavior across the heart especial for complex arrhythmias. "Increased availability of optical mapping hardware in the laboratory has led to expansion of this technology, but further uptake and wider application is hindered by limitations with respect to data processing and analysis," said Dr. Davor Pavlovic, lead contributor from the University of Birmingham's Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences. "The new software can detect, map and analyze arrhythmic phenomena for in silicon, in cellular, animal model and in vivo patient data."

Source: University of Birmingham