Lena Myklebust defends her thesis

The defence took place at Kristen Nygaards sal (5370), Ole Johan Dahls hus, UiO.

Main Research Findings

Irregular heart beats can lead to a sudden stop in heart function and is an important cause of death worldwide. However, the disease mechanisms which lead to dangerous heart rhythms are often unclear. Therefore, improved methods for understanding and diagnosing heart rhythm disorders are needed.
One approach is to use computational methods to model the physics of the heart. Computer models can be used to calculate the electrical activity and movement of the heart, which determines the heart beat. By building these models from medical images, the risk of dangerous rhythms in individual patients may be predicted.

Through computational modeling, this thesis investigates how irregular heart rhythms may arise in patients with heart disease. Specifically, we look into irregular rhythms caused by tissue damage and abnormal movement. We also study and compare different computational approaches for predicting patient risk. Finally, we contribute to the development and validation of software which models the interaction between electrical activity and movement of the heart.

Prior to the defence, at 11:15 on the same day, Lena presented her trial lecture "Methods in scientific computing and scientific machine learning to quantify uncertainties in precision medicine" in the same location.

Adjudication committee

• Dr., PhD Caroline Roney, University of London, UK
• Associate Professor Luca Dede, Politecnico di Milano, Italy
• Professor Torbjørn Rognes, University of Oslo, Norway

Supervisors

• Senior Research Scientist Hermenegild Arevalo, Simula Research Laboratory, Norway
• Professor Aslak Tveito, Simula Research Laboratory, Norway 

Read more at the UiO Department of Informatics webpage.