Periodic Reporting for period 1 - INSIDE-HEART (multI-discipliNary, multi-Sectoral and multi-national trainIng network on Digital biomarkErs for supraventricular arrHythmia charactErizAtion and Risk assessmenT)
Berichtszeitraum: 2023-11-01 bis 2025-10-31
According to the World Health Organization, cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death accounting for 30% of deaths worldwide. Among these diseases, the incidence and prevalence of pathologies related to atrial electrical disfunctions, mainly involving supraventricular arrhythmias (SVAs) such as atrial fibrillation (AF), atrial flutter (AFL), supraventricular tachycardia (SVT), are today reaching pandemic proportions.
The overarching goal of INSIDE-HEART is to demonstrate that digital biomarkers derived from data collected by innovative sensing techniques, such as wearable sensors, non-dedicated devices and sensor networks, can be reliably quantified to track the risk of SVAs.
The consortium includes 6 academic, 3 industrial and 1 clinical Beneficiaries and 1 clinical and 2 industrial Partners to provide scientific support, secondments and training.
In this scenario, INSIDE-HEART will address the challenging problems related to collection, processing and relevance of digital biomarkers in the field of SVAs. This aim will be reached by training a new profile of modern professional researcher with multidisciplinary competencies, including in Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) principles and in Open Science (OS) practices, who can transfer advances in basic science to market and health care system.
From a scientific point of view, the specific scientific objectives of INSIDE-HEART are:
1. Diagnosis and prognosis of SVAs through digital biomarkers
2. Risk assessment of life-threatening events in patients with SVAs
The overarching goal of INSIDE-HEART is to demonstrate that digital biomarkers derived from data collected by innovative sensing techniques, such as wearable sensors, non-dedicated devices and sensor networks, can be reliably quantified to track the risk of SVAs.
The consortium includes 6 academic, 3 industrial and 1 clinical Beneficiaries and 1 clinical and 2 industrial Partners to provide scientific support, secondments and training.
In this scenario, INSIDE-HEART will address the challenging problems related to collection, processing and relevance of digital biomarkers in the field of SVAs. This aim will be reached by training a new profile of modern professional researcher with multidisciplinary competencies, including in Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) principles and in Open Science (OS) practices, who can transfer advances in basic science to market and health care system.
From a scientific point of view, the specific scientific objectives of INSIDE-HEART are:
1. Diagnosis and prognosis of SVAs through digital biomarkers
2. Risk assessment of life-threatening events in patients with SVAs
In the first two years of the project, efforts have included recruitment of all 10 DCs and establishment of monitoring processes through Supervisory Board (SB) activity. Cohesion has been fostered through regular meetings of the SB and DCs including three network-wide Training Activities (Milan-IT, Jaca-ES, Milan-IT) delivering soft skills to DCs as well as technical competencies in signal processing and artificial intelligence. These events have developed collaboration between DCs and have been used as a mechanism to review their research activity in presence of all DCs and supervisors.
The DC research activity has been reported in deliverable D1.1 D2.1 D1.2 D2.2 whilst wider network activity has been reported in 8 other deliverables, with public documents available through the project website (https://www.inside-heart.eu/(öffnet in neuem Fenster)).
Academic dissemination is evidenced by 10 conference papers accepted within this reporting period. The main scientific results achieved by the network so far are more clearly presented in the context of the research areas detailed below.
As outreach activities, DCs participated to the Researcher's night in Milan and Zaragoza and have been using blog writing, to boost their position in the scientific and industrial communities (9 blog post so far).
The DC research activity has been reported in deliverable D1.1 D2.1 D1.2 D2.2 whilst wider network activity has been reported in 8 other deliverables, with public documents available through the project website (https://www.inside-heart.eu/(öffnet in neuem Fenster)).
Academic dissemination is evidenced by 10 conference papers accepted within this reporting period. The main scientific results achieved by the network so far are more clearly presented in the context of the research areas detailed below.
As outreach activities, DCs participated to the Researcher's night in Milan and Zaragoza and have been using blog writing, to boost their position in the scientific and industrial communities (9 blog post so far).
INSIDE-HEART aims to address the challenging problems related to collection, processing and relevance of digital biomarkers in the field of supraventricular arrhythmias (SVAs).
From a scientific point of view, there have been many advancements in atrial disease patients’ care, however several issues remain to be solved in two main areas: 1) Diagnosis and prognosis of SVAs through digital biomarkers, 2) Risk assessment of life-threatening events in patients with SVAs.
Area 1 –Digital Biomarkers for SVAs Detection and Monitoring: the research focuses on developing new digital biomarkers to advance the detection and monitoring of SVAs. The primary objectives are to reduce the minimum detection time for SVAs from the current standard of two-minute windows to just one minute, and to improve detection rates, aiming for a 20% increase in effect size. To achieve these goals, advanced signal processing and AI have been used to identify robust digital biomarkers across a broad spectrum of arrhythmias, including Atrial Fibrillation (AF), Atrial Flutter (AFL), Supraventricular Tachycardia (SVT), and, to a lesser extent, non-sustained ventricular tachycardia (NSVT). These efforts target diverse populations (e.g. infants, youth, adults, elderly, and patients with comorbidities) and employ a variety of data collection modalities, such as smartphones, smartwatches, implantable devices, patches, and more. The work involves acquiring biosignals from innovative devices, identifying key digital biomarkers, and validating these markers for effective SVA monitoring in real-world scenarios.
Area 2 – Digital Biomarkers for Risk Assessment: the research focuses on the development of predictive tools for adverse cardiovascular outcomes in patients with supraventricular arrhythmias (SVAs). Its objective is to identify and validate robust digital biomarkers that enable accurate risk stratification and support clinical decision-making across heterogeneous patient groups. Multi-modal ECG data from Holter monitors, standard clinical ECGs, wearable devices, and intracardiac recordings have been analyzed, with applicability in both clinical and real-world settings. To achieve these goals, expertise in signal processing, machine learning and deep learning, computational modelling, clinical electrophysiology, and wearable sensing technologies will be integrated. The work involves the development of clinically interpretable, scalable, and deployable digital biomarkers to improve prognostic assessment for atrial fibrillation progression, heart failure, post-ablation recurrence, and stroke risk, contributing to more personalized and data-driven management of SVA patients.
INSIDE-HEART fosters an ongoing exchange between researchers, clinicians, and industry partners to deepen understanding of the challenges from multiple perspectives. This sustained multidisciplinary interaction is expected to have a significant long-term impact on the DCs’ careers, equipping them with the ability to communicate effectively across academic, clinical, and industrial environments.
Moreover, INSIDE-HEART places strong emphasis on integrity, transparency, and ethical conduct in research. The DCs have disseminated their work through scientific conferences, the project website, and blog posts, and the consortium has also taken part in public engagement activities across Europe. Overall, INSIDE-HEART has met all its objectives to date, with strong progress and continued success anticipated.
From a scientific point of view, there have been many advancements in atrial disease patients’ care, however several issues remain to be solved in two main areas: 1) Diagnosis and prognosis of SVAs through digital biomarkers, 2) Risk assessment of life-threatening events in patients with SVAs.
Area 1 –Digital Biomarkers for SVAs Detection and Monitoring: the research focuses on developing new digital biomarkers to advance the detection and monitoring of SVAs. The primary objectives are to reduce the minimum detection time for SVAs from the current standard of two-minute windows to just one minute, and to improve detection rates, aiming for a 20% increase in effect size. To achieve these goals, advanced signal processing and AI have been used to identify robust digital biomarkers across a broad spectrum of arrhythmias, including Atrial Fibrillation (AF), Atrial Flutter (AFL), Supraventricular Tachycardia (SVT), and, to a lesser extent, non-sustained ventricular tachycardia (NSVT). These efforts target diverse populations (e.g. infants, youth, adults, elderly, and patients with comorbidities) and employ a variety of data collection modalities, such as smartphones, smartwatches, implantable devices, patches, and more. The work involves acquiring biosignals from innovative devices, identifying key digital biomarkers, and validating these markers for effective SVA monitoring in real-world scenarios.
Area 2 – Digital Biomarkers for Risk Assessment: the research focuses on the development of predictive tools for adverse cardiovascular outcomes in patients with supraventricular arrhythmias (SVAs). Its objective is to identify and validate robust digital biomarkers that enable accurate risk stratification and support clinical decision-making across heterogeneous patient groups. Multi-modal ECG data from Holter monitors, standard clinical ECGs, wearable devices, and intracardiac recordings have been analyzed, with applicability in both clinical and real-world settings. To achieve these goals, expertise in signal processing, machine learning and deep learning, computational modelling, clinical electrophysiology, and wearable sensing technologies will be integrated. The work involves the development of clinically interpretable, scalable, and deployable digital biomarkers to improve prognostic assessment for atrial fibrillation progression, heart failure, post-ablation recurrence, and stroke risk, contributing to more personalized and data-driven management of SVA patients.
INSIDE-HEART fosters an ongoing exchange between researchers, clinicians, and industry partners to deepen understanding of the challenges from multiple perspectives. This sustained multidisciplinary interaction is expected to have a significant long-term impact on the DCs’ careers, equipping them with the ability to communicate effectively across academic, clinical, and industrial environments.
Moreover, INSIDE-HEART places strong emphasis on integrity, transparency, and ethical conduct in research. The DCs have disseminated their work through scientific conferences, the project website, and blog posts, and the consortium has also taken part in public engagement activities across Europe. Overall, INSIDE-HEART has met all its objectives to date, with strong progress and continued success anticipated.