She/Her
Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering
Contact
Room 6-128 Nils Hasselmo Hall
312 Church St SE
Minneapolis, MN 55455
She/Her
Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering
The mechanical contractions of the heart are triggered by electrical waves of excitation propagating through cardiac tissue. Abnormalities in the wave propagation, including fast and chaotic propagation in the heart, may lead to fatal cardiac arrhythmias, such as ventricular fibrillation (VF) and atrial fibrillation (AF).
The general goal of Dr. Talkachova’s group is to investigate the electrical activity of the whole heart from a nonlinear dynamics perspective, aiming to reveal mechanisms of complex cardiac rhythms leading to VF and AF.
We use high resolution optical mapping technique to record electrical activity from the ex-vivo hearts, as well as small patches of stem cells, with the help of voltage- and calcium-sensitive dyes. Analysis of complex spatio-temporal dynamics of the electrical and mechanical activity in the heart helps us to develop techniques for prediction and control of cardiac arrhythmias.
In one of our projects, we develop anti-arrhythmic pacing protocols that can improve the pacing modality of the heart and prevent it from going into VF. In another project, we are developing new signal processing techniques to identify the sources of electrical turbulence during AF. These techniques are to be used for guiding clinicians who perform mapping-specific AF ablation in patients.
Finally, we are interested in investigating the therapeutic potential of neuromodulation, specifically, vagal nerve stimulation, for treatment of cardiovascular diseases and hypertension.