Khalifa University's research center recognized for heart attack detecting device

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Circuits and Systems Society recently presented the Khalifa Semiconductor Research Center (KSRC) with the 2016 Best Paper Award.

The award recognized Khalifa University's specialized research center for its paper on a wearable self-powered heart attack detecting device that they designed. Faculty from the university's biomedical engineering and electrical and computer engineering departments tested the prototype using a database consisting of real ECG recordings.

"When the UAE talks about developing technology that will fuel the post-oil economy they are talking about projects like this one that have the potential to be manufactured and sold commercially," Mohammed Al Mualla, senior vice president of research and graduate studies at Khalifa University, said. "There is a great need and interest in this type of health monitoring and it’s wonderful to see our researchers engage in it. The ability to predict potentially fatal heart attacks would be of great use, especially in countries like the UAE that have a high rate of heart disease and cardiovascular related deaths."

The paper is entitled "Low-Power ECG-Based Processor for Predicting Ventricular Arrhythmia" and was published in the IEEE Transactions on VLSI Systems May 2015 issue.