Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network "PersonalizeAF" - ESR12: Planning ablation therapies using in-silico models

“Electrical Engineering and Information Technology” PhD Programme at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. Germany.

Expected Results: This ESR will provide a novel tool based on individualized simulations to predict the success of the different therapeutic options.

Objectives: In this project, we will develop a system to leverage personalized computer models of AF patients to evaluate different ablation strategies. ). A workflow will be installed to integrate clinical data measured in the EP lab into a personalized computer model that includes areas of fibrotic tissue and slowed conduction. This enables the personalized classification of arrhythmogenicity which then can be compared with the symptoms in the respective patients. The vision is to be able to create this personalized computer model while the patient is in the EP lab. Special focus will be laid on an intuitive user interface using virtual reality methods to provide an immersive and natural environment. The system will enable cardiologists to interactively evaluate ablations strategies that will most likely terminate AF and circumvent relapse

Planned secondments: 3; Fundación para la investigación Biomédica del Hospital Gregorio Marañón, clinical ablation treatment on AF patients. Universitat Politècnica de València, personalization of mathematical models based on non-invasive body surface measurements during AF, ADAS3D development of planning platform as medical software and integration with MRI data.

About the Project

Atrial Fibrillation (AF) is the most common cardiac arrhythmia affecting more than 6 million Europeans with a cost exceeding 1% of the EU health care system budget (13.5 billion annually). New treatment strategies and the progress achieved in research on AF mechanisms and substrate evaluation methods to date have not been commensurate with an equivalent development of the knowledge and technologies required to individually characterize each patient in search of the most efficient therapy.

PersonalizeAF addresses this challenge by delivering an innovative multinational, multi-sectorial, and multidisciplinary research and training programme in new technologies and novel strategies for individualized characterization of AF substrate to and increase treatments’ efficiency.

From the research point of view, PersonalizeAF will integrate data and knowledge from in-vitro, in silico, ex vivo and in vivo animal and human models to: 1) generate an individual description of the state of the atrial muscle identifying the disease mechanisms and characteristics; 2) understanding the potential effect that different therapies have on different atrial substrates; and 3) combining this information to generate a specific profile of the patient and the best therapy for each patient.

With this purpose, PersonalizeAF partnership aggregates relevant scientific staff from the academic and clinical world with highly specialised biomedical companies which will be involved in a high-level personalised training programme that will train a new generation of highly skilled professionals and guarantee ESRs and future PhD students outstanding Career Opportunities in the biomedical engineering, cardiology services and medical devices sectors. PersonalizeAF will disseminate results to a wide spectrum of stakeholders, create awareness in the general public about atrial fibrillation and encourage vocational careers among young students.

Please see https://personalizeaf.net/recruitment/ for detailed application instructions.