Unit Translational Electrophysiology - Department of Cardiology

The research unit Translational Electrophysiology is part of the department of cardiology, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam. Our vision is to decrease the burden of cardiac arrhythmias by translating quantified features of electrical signals and patterns of activation in groundbreaking insights into cardiac electrophysiology. This knowledge is subsequently utilized to develop and test innovative diagnostic instruments and patient-tailored therapies for cardiac arrhythmias.

Approach

To achieve this, our research focuses on designing and validating innovative electrical signal recording and processing techniques and evaluating novel therapies. Our overarching goal is to obtain detailed knowledge of electrical activity of the heart and main research lines include high-resolution/density mapping studies of cardiac arrhythmias in particular atrial fibrillation (AF), mechanisms of (post-operative) AF, dysrhythmias in patients with congenital heart disease and neuromodulation of tachyarrhythmias. 

Innovative scientific contributions

• Discovery of novel mechanisms underlying persistence of AF and the role of Bachmann’s bundle in development of atrial tachyarrhythmias.
• Development of unique mapping approaches in-vivo human hearts, in ex-vivo heart perfusion set-ups and in-vitro living myocardial slices.
• Performance of the first high-resolution mapping studies in pediatric patients.
• unravelling of the mechanism of cardiac neuromodulation.