{"672915":{"#nid":"672915","#data":{"type":"news","title":"The Heart of the Matter","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIt doesn\u2019t have to be Valentine\u2019s Day for Flavio Fenton to have the heart on his mind. Fenton has been fascinated by the human heart for 30 years. The professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/physics.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESchool of Physics\u003C\/a\u003E explores the physics and mathematics behind the heart \u2014 specifically, arrythmias, or abnormal heart rhythms.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWhen you think about the physics of a heart, the first thing that comes to mind is the pumping action and the forcing of fluids,\u201d he said. \u201cBut the reason it contracts is an electrical signal. There\u2019s a lot of physiology and biology behind the function of the heart, but underneath it all, there\u2019s so many areas of physics you can apply to it to understand how it works \u2014 and how it fails to work, like in the case of arrhythmias.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThere\u2019s a lot to love about Fenton\u2019s work:\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cul\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003ELast year, Fenton and clinicians at Emory University won the Georgia Clinical and Translational Science Alliance\u0027s \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/research.gatech.edu\/georgia-tech-and-emory-researchers-win-award-arrhythmia-research\u0022\u003ETeam Science Award of Distinction for Early Stage Research\u003C\/a\u003E for their work using live explanted human hearts to better understand arrhythmias.\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003EIn 2022, Fenton and his collaborators brought a new understanding to complicated heart conditions with the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/research.gatech.edu\/researchers-map-rotating-spiral-waves-live-human-hearts\u0022\u003Efirst high-resolution visualizations of stable spiral waves\u003C\/a\u003E in human ventricles.\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003EDuring the Covid-19 pandemic, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/research.gatech.edu\/study-shows-hydroxychloroquines-harmful-effects-heart-rhythm\u0022\u003Ehis research\u003C\/a\u003E revealed the cardiac risks associated with the proposed use of hydroxychloroquine in treatment.\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/news.gatech.edu\/news\/2019\/03\/27\/using-smartphones-and-laptops-simulate-deadly-heart-arrhythmias\u0022\u003EThe year before\u003C\/a\u003E, Fenton used graphics processing chips designed for gaming applications and software that runs on ordinary web browsers to move the modeling of deadly heart arrhythmias to less costly computers, and even to high-end smartphones.\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003EIn 2018, Fenton and a team came up with a \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/news.gatech.edu\/news\/2018\/02\/22\/maelstroms-heart-confirmed\u0022\u003Enew imaging technique\u003C\/a\u003E that could lead to earlier identification of heart rhythm disorders and the development of better treatments.\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\u003C\/ul\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHis current projects involve possible advances in the amount of voltage used to treat fibrillations, and new knowledge about where in the heart to apply that voltage. He maintains collaborations with agencies like the Food and Drug Administration and a wide array of researchers and clinicians, with hopes that hospitals will eventually be able to apply what he has studied over the years to assist in better patient care and health outcomes.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe heart has been a really fun system to study, and there\u2019s so much that we still don\u2019t know,\u201d he said. \u201cOn top of that, it has a main application of directly saving lives if we can find better and safer ways to prevent and terminate arrhythmias.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EIt doesn\u2019t have to be Valentine\u2019s Day for Flavio Fenton to have the heart on his mind. Fenton has been fascinated by the human heart for 30 years. \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"It doesn\u2019t have to be Valentine\u2019s Day for Flavio Fenton to have the heart on his mind. Fenton has been fascinated by the human heart for 30 years. "}],"uid":"27469","created_gmt":"2024-02-13 16:30:01","changed_gmt":"2024-02-15 16:19:31","author":"Kristen Bailey","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2024-02-13T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2024-02-13T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"673063":{"id":"673063","type":"image","title":"Abouzar Kaboudian and Flavio Fenton","body":"\u003Cp\u003EAbouzar Kaboudian and Flavio Fenton work on data they gathered about heart arrhythmias by studying rabbit hearts.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","created":"1707842613","gmt_created":"2024-02-13 16:43:33","changed":"1707842613","gmt_changed":"2024-02-13 16:43:33","alt":"Abouzar Kaboudian and Flavio Fenton","file":{"fid":"256414","name":"19C10200-P28-016.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/02\/13\/19C10200-P28-016.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/02\/13\/19C10200-P28-016.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1913844,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2024\/02\/13\/19C10200-P28-016.jpg?itok=hj-o0nQP"}}},"media_ids":["673063"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.quantamagazine.org\/can-math-and-physics-save-an-arrhythmic-heart-20230712\/","title":"LISTEN: Can Math and Physics Save an Arrhythmic Heart?"},{"url":"https:\/\/research.gatech.edu\/georgia-tech-and-emory-researchers-win-award-arrhythmia-research","title":" Georgia Tech and Emory Researchers Win Award for Arrhythmia Research"},{"url":"https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/news\/we-heart-physics-flavio-fenton-cardiac-rhythms-chaos-and-mission-end-arrhythmias","title":" We Heart Physics: Flavio Fenton on Cardiac Rhythms, Chaos, and a Mission to End Arrhythmias"},{"url":"https:\/\/news.gatech.edu\/news\/2019\/03\/27\/using-smartphones-and-laptops-simulate-deadly-heart-arrhythmias","title":" Using Smartphones and Laptops to Simulate Deadly Heart Arrhythmias "},{"url":"https:\/\/news.gatech.edu\/news\/2018\/02\/22\/maelstroms-heart-confirmed","title":" Maelstroms in the Heart Confirmed "}],"groups":[{"id":"1292","name":"Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience (IBB)"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"},{"id":"187423","name":"go-bio"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71891","name":"Health and Medicine"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jess@cos.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJess Hunt-Ralston\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ECollege of Sciences\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}