Banca de QUALIFICAÇÃO: TAINAN CERQUEIRA NEVES

Uma banca de QUALIFICAÇÃO de MESTRADO foi cadastrada pelo programa.
STUDENT : TAINAN CERQUEIRA NEVES
Date: 26/02/2026
TIME: 13:30
LOCAL: Sala 107 - Bloco Zeta
TITLE:

Experimental Langendorff Isolated Rabbit Heart Platform for Body Surface Potential Mapping: A Translational Validation Study

PAGES: 150
BIG AREA: Engenharias
AREA: Engenharia Biomédica
SUBÁREA: Bioengenharia
SPECIALTY: Processamento de Sinais Biológicos
SUMMARY:

The heart is a vital organ, functioning as the body's blood pump to ensure homeostasis and an adequate supply of oxygen and nutrients to cells and tissues. Cardiac arrhythmias, which are deviations from the heart's normal rhythm, can severely diminish an individual's quality of life, leading to symptoms like fainting, dizziness, chest pain, and palpitations. While some arrhythmias are subtle, there are more complex arrhythmias with difficult early detection, and the delayed treatment poses a significant risk, including sudden death.

Complex cardiac arrhythmias present a significant challenge in clinical practice. These disorders are associated with high morbidity and mortality, placing a considerable burden on public health systems. Currently, the accurate characterisation and localisation of the arrhythmogenic sources for many complex arrhythmias often rely on invasive electrophysiological mapping systems. These invasive procedures carry inherent risks and limit the frequency of monitoring. The interpretation of signals and maps generated by these systems can also be complex and uncertain, which complicates precise diagnosis and can reduce the effectiveness of subsequent treatments like ablation.

Body Surface Potential Mapping (BSPM) is a promising non-invasive technique that uses high-density electrodes to visualise cardiac electrical activity on the torso. However, fully leveraging BSPM's potential for identifying specific activation patterns and their anatomical origins remains an area requiring substantial research. This thesis validates a new BSPM system and characterises cardiac rhythms using time and frequency analysis. Our experimental setup uses Langendorff-isolated rabbit hearts, mapping epicardial activity with multi-electrode arrays and a panoramic optical mapping system. Simultaneously, a 60-electrode tank simulates the torso for non-invasive mapping.

Furthermore, this work incorporates preliminary findings from a related research experience during five months at Virginia Commonwealth University, USA. In that project, a similar system was employed with explanted pig and human hearts, using a simpler setup with two faces of electrodes and two optical mapping cameras. These combined efforts aim to advance the non-invasive characterisation of complex cardiac arrhythmias, ultimately contributing to more effective diagnostic and therapeutic strategies.

The results demonstrate the successful development of the HEartLab platform, which, after optimisation with Ag/AgCl electrodes and shielding, recorded high-fidelity signals, including the atrial P-wave. Spectral (Dominant Frequency, Organisation Index) and spatiotemporal (Local Activation Time maps) analysis enabled the robust characterisation and distinction of organised (sinus rhythm, ventricular tachycardia) and disorganised (ventricular fibrillation) rhythms, with strong correlation between invasive and non-invasive modalities. The human heart studies confirmed translational feasibility by capturing distinct activation patterns during spontaneous rhythm. This thesis validates an integrated experimental platform that serves as a crucial bridge between basic electrophysiology and clinical innovation, providing a robust benchmark for the future development and validation of non-invasive cardiac mapping algorithms.

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
Presidente - Interno ao Programa - 1188948 - JOAO LAMEU DA SILVA JUNIOR
Membro Titular - Examinador(a) Externo à Instituição - JURANDIR NADAL - UFRJ
Membro Titular - Examinador(a) Externo à Instituição - JAKE AARON BERGQUIST
Membro Suplente - Examinador(a) Interno ao Programa - 2123666 - FERNANDO SILVA DE MOURA
Membro Suplente - Examinador(a) Externo à Instituição - João Paulo do Vale Madeiro
Membro Suplente - Examinador(a) Externo à Instituição - MATHEUS CARDOSO MORAES - UNIFESP