Electrical sensing of dynamic cardiovascular volume in a benchtop model (FITZPATRICKD_U26EMP)
Key details
- Application Deadline
- 23 September, 2026 for international, 23 November, 2026 for Home (11:59pm UK time)
- Location
- UEA
- Funding Type
- Self-funded (students worldwide)
- Start Date
- 1 February, 2027
- Mode of Study
- Full time
- Programme Type
- Masters by Research
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Project Description
Primary Supervisor: Dr. Dennis Fitzpatrick(opens in a new window)
Cardiovascular disease remains a major global health challenge and continues to drive innovation in medical technology. Cardiovascular devices form an important part of a large international medical-device industry, creating substantial demand for new methods of obtaining physiological information accurately, continuously and with low-power sensing technologies.
Measurements of cardiac chamber volume are fundamental to understanding how effectively the heart fills and pumps. Changes in volume underpin clinically important measures such as stroke volume and ejection fraction and contribute to the assessment of conditions including heart failure and valvular heart disease. At present, cardiac volumes are predominantly assessed using imaging techniques such as echocardiography and cardiovascular magnetic resonance. These provide powerful clinical information but usually represent measurements obtained at particular points in time rather than a continuously available physiological signal.
This MSc by Research will investigate a fundamentally different question: “Can low-energy electrical measurements provide a reliable estimate of changing fluid volume within a cardiovascular system?”
The project will begin with the design and construction of a simple benchtop experimental phantom in which fluid volume can be altered in a controlled and independently measurable manner. Purpose-designed electrodes will be used to apply and detect low-energy electrical signals across the system. The resulting measurements will be compared with known changes in fluid volume to determine whether a reproducible relationship exists.
The student will systematically explore how different experimental configurations influence the relationship between electrical measurements and fluid volume, with the aim of identifying approaches that provide useful and reproducible information.
The subsequent direction of the project will be guided by these initial results. If the underlying measurement principle proves sufficiently robust, the experimental system may be progressively developed to explore more complex geometries, time-varying volume changes and increasingly physiologically representative cardiovascular models. This staged approach will allow the student to determine both the capabilities and the limitations of the technique rather than assuming in advance that a particular implementation will succeed.
MATLAB, Python or equivalent tools will be used for signal processing, system identification and quantitative comparison between electrical measurements and independently measured reference data. The project will therefore combine practical electronics and experimental prototyping with physiological modelling and computational analysis.
The central scientific objective is to establish how much information about cardiovascular fluid volume can be recovered from electrical measurements, which measurement strategies are most informative, and under what conditions the relationship remains reliable. Both positive and negative findings will be valuable, as the work will define the physical and engineering limits of the approach. If successful, the underlying measurement principle could have wider relevance to future cardiovascular sensing and medical-device technologies.
The project is entirely laboratory based and does not initially involve patients, animal experimentation or implantation of medical devices.
Entry Requirements
A minimum 2:1 Bachelor's or equivalent qualification in Electrical or Electronic Engineering; Biomedical Engineering; Bioengineering; Physics/Applied Physics; Mechatronics; Computer Science/Data Science; Applied Mathematics; or a closely related quantitative discipline. Applicants from other backgrounds will be considered where they can demonstrate relevant electronics, instrumentation, programming or signal-processing experience.
Funding
This project does not provide any funding to cover tuition fees or any other living expenses. A successful applicant will need to fund their studies themselves or through external sources.
Information on fees and funding at UEA for postgraduate research students can be found here: Fees, funding and scholarships.
References
i) Baan J, van der Velde ET, de Bruin HG, et al. Continuous measurement of left ventricular volume in animals and humans by conductance catheter. Circulation. 1984;70(5):812-823. doi:10.1161/01.CIR.70.5.812.
ii) Porterfield JE, Kottam ATG, Raghavan K, et al. Dynamic correction for parallel conductance, GP, and gain factor, alpha, in invasive murine left ventricular volume measurements. J Appl Physiol. 2009;107(6):1693-1703. doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.91322.2008.
iii) Fitzpatrick D. Implantable Electronic Medical Devices. 1st ed. Academic Press; 2014.
iv) Matthews G, Grafton-Clarke C, Swift AJ, et al. Non-invasive assessment of stroke work using cardiac magnetic resonance imaging. Heart. 2023;109(Suppl 3):A200-A201.
v) Matthews G, Sawh C, Li R, et al. Human pressure-volume loops from the impedance catheter: development and validation of semi-automated beat-by-beat analysis. Wellcome Open Res. 2024;9:723. doi:10.12688/wellcomeopenres.23373.1.