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MULTIFRACTAL ANALYSIS UNCOVERS DIFFERENCES BETWEEN HEALTHY AND UNHEALTHY HEARTS
02 June 2000 - Boston University
| In a paper published in Nature this week, scientists from Boston University’s Center for Polymer Studies describe a new technique derived from modern physics that can help doctors distinguish between a healthy heart and one that is headed for trouble. |
Led by Research Associates Plamen Christov Ivanov and Luis Amaral, the team analyzed the timing of heartbeats of both healthy and sick hearts, looking for fractal patterns, self-similar patterns composed of smaller copies of themselves. They found that healthy hearts exhibited complex multifractal properties, while the beat patterns of unhealthy hearts were monofractal and less varied. The discovery of the multifractality of the healthy heart is important because current medical practice is to prescribe medication to eliminate variability for patients with irregular heartbeats. "This could be doing as much harm as good," says Professor H. Eugene Stanley, director of the Center for Polymer Studies. Monofractals occur commonly in nature and have long been observed in physiological systems. A fern, for example, is fractal because each frond is composed of sub-fronds, each a miniature, but not necessarily identical copy, of the whole. Other systems, like the healthy human heart, are much more complex, with dynamic changes occurring periodically over time. An individual jumps up as the alarm rings, pushes the snooze button and dozes for ten minutes, jumps out of bed, downs a cup of coffee and dashes for the bus, then settles in for a slow ride downtown. Each activity results in a different heart rate and the overall system is better described by multifractals, a more complex system of fractals within fractals. "We presume that the healthy behavior is richer and more complex because it represents the body's ability to adapt to change," says Ivanov. "The ability of the body to adapt to changes in the environment is crucial to survival." The researchers are now working with Mitsubishi of Japan to develop a small monitoring device that would alert the wearer if the heartbeat changes from a multifractal to monofractal pattern. They are also planning to apply this technique to other physiological systems, such as the breathing patterns of people with sleep apnea.
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Boston University has a well-deserved reputation for excellence in research in a wide range of disciplines and a demonstrated commitment to fostering innovative interdisciplinary research. The Office of the Associate Provost for Research and Graduate Education supports the University in facilitating research at the both the student and faculty levels.Our mission is to enhance and encourage research at Boston University and to provide a climate conducive to maintaining the University at the cutting edge of research and scholarly activities. We work with the Boston University community to plan and coordinate interdisciplinary research and represent the University in research matters related to Inter-University consortia. To encourage new, innovative, and cross-disciplinary efforts, this office administers the Special Program for Research Initiation Grants (SPRInG). We showcase graduate research at Science & Technology Day. This annual event features nearly 200 research posters by graduate students from both the Medical and Charles River Campuses working in a wide range of disciplines. Our annual research magazine, Research at Boston University, informs a wide audience about a selection of our significant research findings and ongoing studies at Boston University. We also maintain a strong presence on the web through this site and through the Science Coalition’s website, which brings our research successes to the attention of Congress and other policy makers in the federal government. To assist Boston University researchers, this office oversees the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program and coordinates with the Office of Sponsored Programs on the Charles River Campus , the research administration on the Medical Campus, the Office of Research Compliance, and the various graduate programs. For the development of commercially viable ideas, we administer the Provost's Innovation Fund and work closely with the Office of Technology Transfer. We also coordinate proposals where there are institutional limits to the number of proposals that may be submitted, cost sharing requirements, significant laboratory renovations, or other special circumstances. This office assists departments and centers to achieve a diverse faculty and graduate student body through our membership and activities with the Northeast Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate and through our affiliation with the Clare Boothe Luce program of the Henry Luce Foundation. |
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