Proyecto Internacional (VLIR)
– To characterize and to improve the methods, algorithms and tools for pre-processing, processing and analysis of ECG signal and its associated time series (RR and QT), especially in the presence of noise (seeking their applicability to improve the Cuban holter system).
– To characterize and to improve the indexes computed for cardiac interval variability in the presence of artefacts (false positive and negative) in RR and QT intervals time series.
– To improve the education and scientific level of the academic and scientific personnel in the areas of biomedical signal and image processing, by stimulating joint projects and collaboration between researchers of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KUL) in Belgium and Universidad de Oriente (UO) in Cuba.
– To set up a research laboratory/classroom to improve the infrastructure the Biomedical Engineering PhD and Master programs, in the Electrical Engineering Faculty with the support of the academic staff in Biomedical Engineering from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven.
Problem statement and Motivation
1. Social: Sudden cardiac death (SCD) is the main cause of death in the world and in Cuba. The main cause of SCD is the acute myocardium infarct (AMI). About 75% of subjects who died suddenly had an asymptomatic AMI. About 23 % of AMI are as asymptomatic.
2. Academic: There is no PhD in Biomedical Engineering in the department of the same name in the Universidad de Oriente, Santiago de Cuba city.
3. Technical: A Holter ambulatory system is built in Cuba but their analysis software presents some limitations: (a) it doesn’t analyze QT time series (only RR time series), (b) it doesn’t compute spectral indexes for heart rate variability (HRV) analysis. It only calculates statistical time-domain measures, which (in general) are not robust to the presence of artifacts (false positives and negatives) in RR time series, (c) it generates errors in beat classification and consequently, in the final diagnostics.
4. Scientific: The performance of several processing and analysis methods for ambulatory ECG must be improved, specifically those for estimation of the baseline drifts, the recognition of beats, and the obtaining of robust diagnosis in the presence of false-positive (FP) and false-negative (FN) errors in RR or QT time series.
Expected results (in 6 years):
1. Two (2) researchers with doctor’s scientific grade in sciences formed in the eastern region of Cuba.
2. Ten researchers with scientific grade of master in sciences formed in the eastern region of the Country.
3. Twelve biomedical engineers formed in the eastern region of Cuba.
4. 20 specialized courses in topics of Biomedical Engineering in the eastern region of Cuba.
5. At least 6 Papers in Journals and 18 conference contributions (national and international).
6. Improvement of the analysis software of the “EXCORDE” Cuban Holter monitor.
7. 1000 patients per year benefit from the improvement of EXCORDE Holter analyzer in the eastern region of Cuba.
8. Several software applications for ECG signal processing, and its correspondent software registration (at least, 6 intellectual property registrations in Cuba).
9. New Laboratory/Classroom to support the research and academic activities of Biomedical Engineering PhD and Master programs in the Electrical Engineering Faculty, of the Universidad de Oriente.
Jefe de Proyecto
Integrantes
- MES, MINSAP and Katholieke Universiteit Leuven