Wayne State and Khalifa faculty awarded for mobile heart monitoring research

Wayne State University Professor Mohammed Ismail Elnaggar, chair of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, joined a team of researchers from the Khalifa University of Science and Technology in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on a project that received a Best Paper Award at the Sensors, Networks, Smart and Emerging Technologies (SENSET) conference last month in Lebanon.

The team's research is aimed at making heart health monitoring tools mobile. The project, "Graphene Oxide-Nylon ECG Sensors for Wearable IoT Healthcare," describes a sophisticated electrocardiogram (ECG) sensing device intended to be less invasive and more practical than traditional ECG probes.

The mobile ECG probe includes a system-on-chip (SoC) that processes ECG signals and executes advanced algorithms to predict the onset of a heart attack. The device can be worn as a necklace or bracelet, and is powered by energy from body heat, rendering internal battery power unnecessary.

"The ECG signals from the probe feed the SoC, which in turn detects and analyzes the heart's electrical activity and transmits that data to a device, such as a phone or computer, or remotely through the internet, where it provides insightful information about the person's heart to the end user," said Elnaggar, who prior to his arrival at Wayne State was the Khalifa Semiconductor Research Center director when the project began over four years ago.

The team was one of three to win a Best Paper Award out of 65 submissions at the SENSET conference, which gathered over 150 international researchers to present their work related to smart cities. Elnaggar and his colleagues are partnering with Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi to develop testing processes.

Co-authors from Khalifa University include Ph.D. student Nicholas Hallfors; Maguy Abi Jaoude, assistant professor of chemistry; Kin Liao, interim chair and professor of aerospace engineering; and Abdel F. Isakovic, associate professor of physics and interim associate dean for research in the College of Arts and Sciences.

For more information visit news.masdar.ac.ae.