Atrial fibrillation is an arrhythmia that is treated with radiofrequency pulses (ablation). It is important to apply those pulses to the specific area.
The awarded work had the objective of “locating the mechanisms responsible for this arrhythmia (atrial fibrillation). We have done it through a Deep Learning architecture. By locating some 'drivers' (elements that indicate the exact location of the arrhythmia) we provide the necessary information to the surgeon so that he can intervene in the exact place”, says Sara Valiente Jaén.
The work is entitled "Localization of Drivers in Atrial Fibrillation with LSTM Convolutional Networks" developed in the biomedical engineering group of the 'Data Science and Signal Processing for Networks and Society research group' of the ETSIT. Sara Valiente's work was carried out under the direction of the School's professors and researchers, Miguel Ángel Cámara Vázquez, Míriam Fernández Gutiérrez-Calvillo and Óscar Barquero Pérez, in collaboration with the 'Cardiac Oriented Research (COR) Group' of María S Guillem and Andreu M. Climent from the UPV and the start-up Corify Care SL
There are still no data on real patients, but the work is important since it is essential to apply the pulses in the exact place, since "if not, the arrhythmia is not treated well," says the URJC graduate.
According to the Spanish Journal of Cardiology, “it is estimated that more than 1 million people suffer from atrial fibrillation. 90.000 of them are still undiagnosed.
An honor to represent the URJC
Sara Valiente was already aware of the existence of the FENIN-SEIB award but it was thanks to her TFG tutor (the award-winning work), Professor Miguel Ángel Cámara, that she decided to apply after observing good results in her research. For Sara Valiente, "putting the tie to my university stage with this recognition is marvelous" and she adds that "it is an honor to be able to speak about atrial fibrillation in a national congress. Representing all the work myself is a pride. It has been a team effort, ”she indicates.
At the moment, Sara Valiente is studying a master's degree in Neuroengineering in Munich (Germany). In the future, she would like to dedicate herself to research and the technical part without losing sight of the human side of Biomedicine and Neuroscience.
The XL CASEIB in the city of Valladolid, annually brings together Spanish researchers in biomedical engineering, allowing the exchange of the latest advances, as well as establishing links between research groups, companies and clinical professionals. The CASEIB usually represents the first contact for young researchers, which is why it represents an incomparable framework to value all the work that is being developed in biomedical engineering.
The different competitions are particularly awaited, including the FENIN-SEIB Awards Competition for Biomedical Engineering Graduate Students, coordinated by the Spanish Federation of Health Technology Companies (FENIN) and the SEIB. Representatives of the 14 Spanish Universities in which the Degree in Biomedical Engineering is taught participate in this competition.
This award continues the path of success started by the student Roberto Holgado Cuadrado, who won the 3rd prize in the 2020 edition of the Competition, also under the direction of Professor Óscar Barquero Pérez.
The participation of students and researchers in the CASEIB makes it possible to highlight the quality of the URJC Biomedical Engineering studies, as well as the support of the awards for the competitiveness of the works presented by the students of the biomedical engineering degree of the URJC. URJC.