​Daniel Romero, PhD

A Data-drivEn computational mEthod for PersonalizeD healthcare in chronic REspiratory diseases through big-dAta analytics and dynamical Modelling

 

Overview:

 

Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) increases risks for cardiovascular disease – coronary artery disease, congestive heart failure, and stroke. The underlying reasons behind this complex association between sleep-disordered breathing and cardiovascular disease are not entirely defined. Experimental observation and data analysis are crucial to identify the mechanisms at work. The EU-funded DEEPDREAM project is combining advanced computational modeling, signal processing, and interpretation techniques to assess the activation of the neural mechanisms related to intermittent hypoxia. The results will bring us one step closer to the prevention of cardiovascular diseases.

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Objective:

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Prediction is crucial to reduce the risk of cardiovascular complications caused by CRDs, a significant public health issue. Intermittent hypoxia caused by obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is known to contribute to impaired autonomic cardiac function, but the impact of apneas severity on autonomic cardiac function remains unclear.

Prediction is performed by using biomarkers, which can be proposed only if the pathophysiological mechanisms which link the severity of sleep apneas with heart rate variability alterations become clearer. A crucial condition to clarify these mechanisms is a close and continuous interaction between experimental observations and data analysis/modeling.

This project, which combined advanced computational modeling and signal processing and interpretation techniques to assess the activation of the neural mechanisms related to intermittent hypoxia, offers a concrete possibility to go one step further in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases in OSA.

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Publications related to the project:

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1. D. Romero, R. Jané. Global and Transient Effects of Intermittent Hypoxia on Heart Rate Variability Markers: Evaluation using an Obstructive Sleep Apnea Model. in IEEE Access doi: 10.1109/ACCESS.2021.3053310.

2. D. Romero, R. Jané. Hypoxia-induced Effects on ECG Depolarization by Time Warping Analysis during Recurrent Obstructive Apnea. 42nd Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine & Biology Society (EMBC 2020). Montreal, QC, Canada, 20-24 July 2020, pp. 2626-2629, DOI: 10.1109/EMBC44109.2020.9176409

3. D. Romero, D Blanco-Almazan, W. Groenendaal, L. Lijnen, C. Smeets, D. Ruttens, F. Catthoor, R. Jané. Cardiac comorbidities in COPD patients explained through HRV analysis and respiratory indices of disease severity. Computing in Cardiology (CinC 2020), Rimini, Italy, Sep 13-16, 2020

4. D Blanco-Almazan, D. Romero, W. Groenendaal, L. Lijnen, C. Smeets, D. Ruttens, F. Catthoor, R. Jané. Relationship between heart rate recovery and disease severity in COPD patients. Computing in Cardiology (CinC 2020), Rimini, Italy, Sep 13-16, 2020

5. ​D Romero, J. Lázaro, R. Jané, P. Laguna, R. Bailón (2020). A Quaternion-based Approach to Estimate Respiratory Rate from the Vectorcardiogram. Computing in Cardiology (CinC 2020), Rimini, Italy, Sept 13-16, 2020
6. ​D Romero, R. Jané (2021). Relationship between Sleep Stages and HRV Response in Obstructive Sleep Apnea Patients.  43rd Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine & Biology (EMBC 2021),  Guadalajara, Mexico, Oct 30 - Nov 4, 2021
7. ​D Romero, R. Jané (2022). Detecting Obstructive Apnea Episodes using Dynamic Bayesian Networks and ECG-based Time-Series.  44 Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine & Biology (EMBC 2022),  Glasgow, UK, Jul 11 - 15, 2022
8. ​D Romero, D. Blanco-Almazán, W. Groenendaal, L. Lijnen, C. Smeets, D. Ruttens, F. Catthoor, R. Jané (2022). Predicting 6-minute walking test outcomes in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease without physical performance measures.  Computer Methods and Programs in Biomedicine, 2022, vol. 225, p. 107020.

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Dissemination activities:

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• Presenter at the Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine & Biology Society (EMBC 2020) held in Montreal, QC, Canada, 20-24 July (virtual event).

• Presenter at Computing in Cardiology conference CinC 2020, held in Rimini, Italy, Sept 13-16 (virtual event),

• ​Poster presented at Computing in Cardiology conference CinC 2020, held in Rimini, Italy, Sept 13-16 (virtual event).
• Poster presented at the 13th IBEC Symposium 2020, November 27-28, Barcelona, Spain.
• Presenter at the Annual Congress of the Spanish Society of Biomedical Engineering (CASEIB2020), Valladolid, Spain, Nov 25-27 (virtual event).
• Presenter at the STAFF-MALTA Symposium 2021, Sirolo, Italy, Sept 1-4 2021. 
• Presenter at the Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine & Biology Society (EMBC 2021) held in Guadalajara, Mexico, November 1-5, 2021 (virtual event) 
• Poster presented at 14th IBEC Symposium 2021, October, 28-29, 2021, Barcelona, Spain
• Presenter at the Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine & Biology Society (EMBC 2022) held in Glasgow, UK, July 11-15, 2022.

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Outreach activities:

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• Presenter at Bojos per la Bioenginyeria.  EDITION 2021, Barcelona, Spain.

• Invited talk: Seminar series of the Master in Biomedical Engineering at University of Zaragoza, June 3rd, 2021. "Multivariate-multimodal approaches for disease diagnosis and prognosis: Applications in cardiac and chronic respiratory diseases assessment"