JOHOR BAHRU, 5 November 2015 – A research team from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM),lead by Dr. Afzan Mohd Othman was declared the winner of the ‘Best of the Best’ category at UTM’s 17th Industrial Art and Technology Exhibition (INATEX).
His research involved the development of a software that is able to monitor the human heart beat to prevent sudden death from a heart attack.
Speaking to reporters after the prize presentation ceremony held at Dewan Sultan Iskandar, UTM Johor Bahru campus, Dr. Afzan said the product, which has been named Asic Design of Sudden Cardiac Arrest Monitoring, is equipped with several special features currently not available on similar devices in the market.
“Among the unique features of this product is a system that could classify cardiac arrhythmias, track electrocardiogram (ECG) behavior and monitor patients.
“This information is crucial in avoiding sudden death due to cardiovascular disease. The normal procedure for heart patients is to have an ECG test at clinics or hospitals, and this test is only conducted following the heart attack or chest pains,”he said.
Dr Afzan said that this invention, developed based on a dynamic model, could provide a new approach to ECG signal processing in terms of detection, compression and classification of AF, VT and VF of cardiac arrhythmias.
Among the benefits of this device include its low consumption of electrical power, and its compact and small size thus increasing the heart patient’s mobility.
This victory has enabled Dr. Afzan and his research team to bring home RM 100,000.00 in cash prize and a trophy which he received from the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Ir. Dato’ Dr. Wahid Omar.
INATEX 2015 exhibited 96 new innovation inventions involving 77 researchers under nine research thrust comprising Agriculture, Aquaculture and Environment, Art Design & Creativity, Biotechnology, Life Science & Pure Science, Disaster Management, Education & Human Development, Entrepreneurship & Industrial Management, Health, Wellness and Well-being, Information Communication Technology and Multimedia and Manufacturing Technologies.
