Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference:	GR/T01990/01
Title:	Atrial repolarisation: New measures for non-invasive assessment of heart disease
Principal Investigator:	Langley, Dr P
Other Investigators:
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:
Department:	Clinical and Laboratory Sciences
Organisation:	Newcastle University
Scheme:	Standard Research (Pre-FEC)
Starts:	01 February 2005	Ends:	29 February 2008	Value (£):	232,305
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:	Medical science & disease
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:	Healthcare
Related Grants:
Panel History:	Panel Date Panel Name Outcome 14 Apr 2004 Engineering Fellowships Interview Panel 2004 Deferred
Summary on Grant Application Form
After each heart beat the heart must relax in preparation for the next beat. Problems during this phase of the heart cycle can lead to the abnormal heart rhythms responsible for stroke, heart attack and death. The purpose of this research is to investigate the relaxation phase of the heart cycle of the upper chambers of the heart, the atria. This is a difficult problem because the in electrocardiogram this phase of the heart cycle is often hidden within the larger signals produced by the large lower chambers of the heart, the ventricles. The research could lead to new techniques for predicting and detecting dangerous heart rhythms and reduce the need for expensive invasive methods. The research will be conducted by researchers in the Cardiovascular Physics and Engineering Research Group of the Medical Physics Department at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne in collaboration with cardiologists at the Freeman Hospital and builds on their expertise in analysis of other potentially fatal heart rhythms. It is anticipated that novel electrode placement, guided by the use of computer models of the heart cycle, and refined signal processing techniques will allow the small signals associated with the relaxation phase of the atria to be measured. These signals will be analysed to determine their power to detect and predict abnormal heart rhythms.
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Organisation Website:	http://www.ncl.ac.uk