L I F E
S C I E N C E S
S U C C E S S
S T O R Y
And the Beat Goes On: PV-WAVE® Integral Tool at
Heart Research Lab
“ PV-WAVE was essential to developing this highly influential model
used to identify fibrillation. Its animation and pattern recognition
algorithms allowed us to detect specific wave patterns in the heart
that indicate fibrillation.”
INDUSTRY
Life Sciences
A P P LI C ATI O N
P RO D U CT
– Richard Gray, Associate Professor, University of Alabama,
Cardiac Rhythm Management Laboratory (CRML)
Modelling of
Cardiac Arrhythmias
PV-WAVE®
Quick Facts
The Cardiac Rhythm Management Laboratory at the University of Alabama at Birmingham
uses PV-WAVE for more efficient analysis of the causes and potential treatment of cardiac
arrhythmias. They are able to increase productivity and significantly reduce development
The Cardiac Rhythm Management
Laboratory (CRML) at the
University of Alabama at
time for researchers because of PV-WAVE’s rapid application development, flexible
programming environment and cross-platform compatibility.
The Problem
Sudden cardiac death is the leading cause of death in the industrialized world. The Cardiac
Birmingham is a state-of-the-art
Rhythm Management Laboratory at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (CRML) seeks
to understand the formation, maintenance and termination of life-threatening cardiac
15,000 square-foot research
arrhythmias with the goal of improving treatment strategies.
facility that houses an
CRML funding comes from the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation,
interdisciplinary team of
American Heart Association, the Whitaker Foundation, and corporate partners.
biomedical engineers, electro
CRML scientists are world leaders in electrical and optical mapping technology -- the
physiologists, physicians and
simultaneous measurement of electrical potential distributions with high spatial and
temporal sampling resolution. CRML’s electrical mapping systems allow measurements in
veterinarians.
three dimensions for better understanding of how the heart's structure contributes to
arrhythmias in normal and diseased states. Optical mapping systems relate fluorescence
measurements from the surface of isolated hearts to underlying cellular level potentials.
CRML’s primary objective is to investigate the causes and potential treatments of cardiac
arrhythmias. Sudden cardiac death is due to heart attacks, and heart attacks are due to
fibrillation. Fibrillation is rapid uncoordinated twitching movements that replace the normal
rhythmic contraction of the heart and may cause a lack of circulation and pulse. Professor
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C U S T O M E R
S U C C E S S
S T O R Y
Richard Gray, Associate Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and member
of CRML, studies how waves propagate throughout the heart. He theorized that fibrillation
could be identified by spiral wave patterns that occur in the heart.
K E Y
•
B E N E FI TS
Strong image and signal
processing techniques
To test this theory, Professor Gray used an optical mapping system using CCD cameras, and
cardiac MRI. Cameras recorded the electrical activity from the heart surface during
fibrillation. The resulting data “movies” represented complex ever-changing dynamic spatial
•
Advanced graphical capabilities
patterns.
•
Flexible and easy to use
Analyzing and visualizing this data requires significant image and signal processing
•
Command line programming
•
Dedicated sales and technical
support personnel
techniques, coupled with advanced graphical capabilities. However, no techniques existed to
analyze such high-resolution data sets.
The Solution
With the help of PV-WAVE, Dr. Richard Gray and his counterparts developed a “first of its
kind” method for identifying fibrillation. To find the spiral wave patterns that could indicate
fibrillation, the scientists analyze the data both qualitatively and quantitatively. They
examine the 3-D surface of the heart qualitatively using the PV-WAVE animation tool,
allowing them to look on the inside and outside of the heart surface. Mathematical
algorithms were used to identify quantitative patterns in the spiral waves. In this way, Dr.
Gray and his team were able to make a connection between specific types of spiraling and
fibrillation. “This fibrillation model is used extensively throughout the field of cardiology
research,” according to Richard Gray.
The application Dr. Gray and his team developed to analyze the spirals is called VIDAS
(Video Imaging Data Analysis Software). VIDAS is an interactive software environment for
visualizing and analyzing CCD optical mapping data. Processing may be done from the
PV-WAVE command line and/or through the use of a graphical user-interface.
Screen shot from VIDAS showing the spiral waves of the heart
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C U S T O M E R
S U C C E S S
S T O R Y
This application to understand what fibrillation is made up of is the first of its kind. Now that
scientists understand how fibrillation works, they can test drugs against it to see if the
fibrillation stops.
Return On Investment
Professor Gray’s research findings have been published in the Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences and also in the journal Nature. “This fibrillation model is used
extensively throughout the field of cardiology research,” according to Richard Gray.
World Class Products, Services, and Support
Visual Numerics has provided technical software solutions for numerical analysis and
visualization for over 30 years. The company's software products help users understand
complex data from a variety of sources and build business-critical applications. Visual
Numerics offers two product lines: the IMSL™ Numerical Libraries for powerful
mathematical and statistical analysis and the PV-WAVE® visual data analysis development
environment. Visual Numerics also offers customized consulting services for applications
that involve mathematical, statistical, or visual data analysis to meet today’s business
analytical needs.
The IMSL Numerical Libraries - which include the IMSL C Library, IMSL Fortran Library
and JMSL™ Library for Java™ applications - are the industry standard for numerical
analysis. They deliver developers with the breadth and depth of core algorithms allowing
for the rapid development of any application. Whether developing applications in C,
Fortran, or Java, or on UNIX, Windows or Linux, the robust IMSL Libraries provide the
reliable foundation and the building blocks developers need.
The PV-WAVE family of products - which includes PV-WAVE, TS-WAVE, and JWAVE delivers engineers with the development tools to efficiently and accurately meet their data
analysis needs. PV-WAVE solutions allow users to rapidly import, manipulate, analyze and
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visualize data. The PV-WAVE family also includes robust time series analysis software as
well as the ability to share analysis results across the enterprise with a Java-based solution.
And, unlike other products, PV-WAVE Advantage includes a sophisticated set of analysis
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routines based on the industry-standard IMSL Libraries.
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