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Event Details

Alan Sahakian

4:00 p.m
May 13, 2009
Ford ITW Auditorium

Alan Sahakian, Professor, EECS Department (joint with Biomedical Engineering),
"Fixing a Broken Heart: Mechanisms and Treatment of the Atrial Cardiac Arrhythmias"


Abstract: The human heart contains approximately 10 billion electrically active cells interconnected in such a way as to propagate an exquisitely choreographed sequence of electromechanical events. Parameters such as the rate of beating, certain intra-beat intervals and the strength of contraction are dynamically controlled by multiple autonomic inputs allowing the heart to adapt its action quickly to accommodate all the things we wish to do any time we wish to do them.

This complex system sometimes misbehaves in ways that can be inconvenient, limiting or even fatal. A disturbance in the rhythm of the heart is called a cardiac arrhythmia. Our group studies arrhythmias, in particular those involving the upper chambers of the heart (the atria). I will introduce the audience to the normal and some abnormal behaviors of the heart and then discuss our work on two specific arrhythmias: atrial fibrillation and atrial flutter. I will also discuss implantable electronic device therapies using algorithms from our lab to automatically diagnose and treat these and other cardiac arrhythmias. This work is in collaboration with Dr. Steven Swiryn.

Bio:
Alan V. Sahakian received the Ph.D. in ECE with a minor in CS, and the MSEE from the University of Wisconsin – Madison, working in the Willis Tompkins/John Webster group. His BS was in Applied Science and in Physics from the University of Wisconsin – Parkside. He is currently a Professor of EECS and BME and the Associate Chair of EECS for the undergraduate program. He is also the Director of the EECS Signals and Systems Division and is a member of the academic affiliate staff at NorthShore University HealthSystem (Evanston Hospital). He has served as a resident visiting scholar in the Center for Excellence in Reliability and Maintainability at the Air Force Institute of Technology. Before entering an academic career he was a Senior Electrical Engineer at Medtronic, Inc. responsible for developing some of the first ambulatory arrhythmia monitoring devices. He is a Distinguished Lecturer of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society and is a Fellow of the IEEE β€œfor Contributions to Electrophysiology of Atrial Cardiac Arrhythmias.” In addition to cardiac electrophysiology, his lab studies RF, microwave, millimeter-wave and photonic methods of medical imaging and remote physiological monitoring. His research is currently funded by the Dr. Scholl Foundation, the Defense Intelligence Agency and the DOD Breast Cancer Research Program.

Visit Alan Sahakian's website,
Northwestern University Robert R. McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department