DIRECTSENSE: the Story Behind the Innovation
Alumni of the Efimov Laboratory at Boston Scientific in DIRECTSENSE: the Story Behind the Innovation. Jake Laughner and Matt Sulkin....
Welcome Baby Avi
We would like to welcome baby Avi who was born on May 3rd at 6:50 pm. Congrats to Kedar and Holly Aras on their beautiful baby boy! We can’t wait to meet you!...
Igor Efimov Awarded $2.5M R01 Grant for the Project “High-Definition Conformal Electronics for VT/VF”
The National Institutes of Health National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute has awarded Dr. Igor Efimov (BME) a four-year, $2.5 million R01 grant for the project “High-Definition Conformal Electronics for VT/VF.” Ventricular fibrillation (rapid and irregular heart...
Two fo Efimov’s Undergraduate Students Publish Open-Source Optocardiogaphy System in Nature Scientific Reports
Brianna Cathey (B.S. ’19) and Sofian Obaid (B.S. ’18, PhD) published a paper titled Open-Source Multiparametric Optocardiography in Nature Scientific Reports. This paper presents a low-cost, customizable 3D-printed optical mapping system. Optical mapping...
The Best Way to Explain the Research is…through Dance!
Anna Gams has entered ‘Dance your Ph.D.’ contest sponsored by AAAS and Science. The goal of the competition is to challenge scientists to explain the research without using slideshows and scientific jargon but through the interpretive dance. Anna’s...
Dr. Efimov Named a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors
The National Academy of Inventors (NAI) announced on December 11 that it has elected Dr. Igor Efimov to the rank of NAI Fellow. Election to NAI Fellow status is the highest professional distinction accorded to academic inventors who have demonstrated a prolific...
Sharon George and Rose Yin Receive AHA Fellowships
The BME department congratulates postdoctoral fellow Dr. Sharon George and doctoral student Rose Yin, who have both been awarded fellowships from the American Heart Association to study in Dr. Igor Efimov’s laboratory. Sharon has been awarded a two-year...
Faculty and Students Attend BME’s 50th Annual Conference
The BME Department was well represented at the BMES (Biomedical Engineering Society) 50th Annual Conference, held October 17-20 in Atlanta, GA. The department and the SEAS Office of Graduate Admissions and Student Services also hosted a booth to share information...
Cardialen Raises $17M in Venture Capital to Commercialize Therapy Developed in BME Lab
Cardialen, a company founded by Dr. Igor Efimov has raised $17 million in Series B funding from venture capital. Dr. Efimov’s lab has developed a way to defibrillate the heart with a technique that uses a precisely timed series of low-voltage pulses, rather than one...
Anna Gams Wins APS Abstract Travel Award
BME doctoral student Anna Gams won The American Physiological Society Abstract Travel Award at the 2018 APS Conference on Cardiovascular, Renal, and Metabolic Diseases: Sex-Specific Implications for Physiology. The conference was held September 30 – October 3 in...
Open Source 3D Panoramic Imaging Software and Hardware Published in Scientific Reports
Fluorescence optical imaging techniques have revolutionized the field of cardiac electrophysiology and advanced our understanding of complex electrical activities such as arrhythmias. However, traditional monocular optical mapping systems, despite having high spatial...
Live Webinar on Optical Imaging of Cardiac Physiology July 20
Please join us for a live webinar on optical imaging of cardiac physiology presented by Dr. Igor Efimov on July 20th, 2017. Spots can be reserved...
Leducq Foundation Funded Our Transatlantic Network of Excellence: Rhythym!
Our transatlantic network consisting of 6 universities received funding from the Leducq Foundation. Our project is titled Repolarization HeterogeneitY imaging for personalised Therapy of Heart arrhythMia (RHYTHM). Project was among only 5 funded proposals selected...
Journal Club – #38
Phase I and phase II of short-term mechanical restitution in perfused rat left ventricles Dumitrescu C, Narayan P, Cheng Y, Efimov IR, Altschuld RA Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2002 Apr;282(4):H1131-9...
Journal Club – #37
Imaging of the atrioventricular node using optical coherence tomography Gupta M, Rollins AM, Izatt JA, Efimov IR J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol. 2002 Jan; 13(1):95...
Journal Club – #36
The pin-wheel experiment revisited Sambelashvili AT, Efimov IR J Theor Biol. 2002 Jan 21;214(2):147-53...
Journal Club – #35
Mechanisms of make and break excitation revisited: paradoxical break excitation during diastolic stimulation Nikolski VP, Sambelashvili AT, Efimov IR Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2002 Feb;282(2):H565-75...
Journal Club – #34
The mechanisms of the vulnerable window: the role of virtual electrodes and shock polarity Yamanouchi Y, Cheng Y, Tchou PJ, Efimov IR Can J Physiol Pharmacol. 2001 Jan;79(1):25-33...
Journal Club – #33
The role of electroporation in defibrillation Al-Khadra A, Nikolski V, Efimov IR Circa Res. 2000 Oct 27;87(9):797-804...
Journal Club – #32
Reversal of repolarization gradient does not reverse the chirality of shock-induced reentry in the rabbit heart Cheng Y, Nikolski V, Efimov IR J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol. 2000 Sep;11(9):998-1007...
Journal Club – #31
Virtual electrode polarization in the far field: implications for external defibrillation Efimov IR, Aguel F, Cheng Y, Wollenzier B, Trayanova N Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2000 Sep;279(3):H1055-70...
Journal Club – #30
A shocking experience: ionic modulation of virtual electrodes in defibrillation Efimov IR Circ Res. 2000 Sep 15;87(6):429-30...
Journal Club – #29
Direct evidence of the role of virtual electrode-induced phase singularity in success and failure of defibrillation Efimov IR, Cheng Y, Yamanouchi Y, Tchou PJ J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol. 2000 Aug; 11(8):861-8...
Journal Club – #28
Virtual electrode polarization of ventricular epicardium during bipolar stimulation Nikolski V, Efimov IR J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol. 2000 May; 11(5):605...
Journal Club – #27
Virtual electrodes and deexcitation: New insights into fibrillation induction and defibrillation Efimov IR, Gray RA, Roth BJ J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol. 2000 Mar; 11(3):339-53 [PubMed] ...
Journal Club – #26
Virtual electrode-induced reexcitation: A mechanism of defibrillation Cheng Y, Mowrey KA, Van Wagoner DR, Tchou PJ, Efimov IR Circ Res. 1999 Nov 26; 85(11):1056-66...
Journal Club – #25
Evidence of three-dimensional scroll waves with ribbon-shaped filament as a mechanism of ventricular tachycardia in the isolated rabbit heart Efimov IR, Sidorov V, Cheng Y, Wollenzier B J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol. 1999 Nov; 10(11):1452-62...
Journal Club – #24
Biventricular shocking leads improve defibrillation efficacy Yamanouchi Y, Efimov IR, Mowrey KA, Mazgalev TN, Wilkoff BL Tchou PJ J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol. 1999 Apr; 10(4):561-5...
Journal Club – #23
Voltage-sensitive dye RH421 increases contractility of cardiac muscle Cheng Y, Van Wagoner DR, Mazgalev TN, Tchou PJ, Efimov IR Can J Physiol Pharmacol. 1998 Dec; 76(12):1146-50...
Journal Club – #22
What is the role of the AV node if the AV delay occurs before it? Efimov IR Am J Physiol. 1998 Nov; 275(5 Pt 2):H1905-6...
Journal Club – #21
Virtual electrode effects in transvenous defibrillation-modulation by structure and interface: evidence from bidomain simulations and optical mapping Entcheva E, Eason J, Efimov IR, Cheng Y, Malkin R, Clayton F J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol. 1998 Sep; 9(9):949-61...
Journal Club – #20
High-resolution, three-dimensional fluorescent imaging reveals multilayer conduction pattern in the atrioventricular node Efimov IR, Mazgalev TN Circulation. 1998 Jul 7; 98(1):54-7...
Journal Club – #19
Virtual electrode-induced phase singularity: a basic mechanism of defibrillation failure Efimov IR, Cheng Y, Van Wagoner DR, Mazgalev T, Tchou PJ Circ Res. 1998 May 4; 82(8):918-25...
Journal Club – #18
Hypoxia and hypothermia enhance spatial heterogeneities of repolarization in guinea pig hearts: analysis of spatial autocorrelation of optically recorded action potential durations. Salama G, Kanai AJ, Huang D, Efimov IR, Girouard SD, Rosenbaum DS J Cardiovasc...
Journal Club – #17
Relation of the atrial input sites to the dual atrioventricular nodal pathways: crossing of conduction curves generated with posterior and anterior pacing Tchou PJ, Cheng YN, Mowrey K, Efimov IR, Van Wagoner DR, Mazgalev TN J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol. 1997...
Journal Club – #16
Transmembrane voltage changes produced by real and virtual electrodes during monophasic defibrillation shock delivered by an implantable electrode Efimov IR, Cheng YN, Biermann M, Van Wagoner DR, Mazgalev TN, Tchou PJ J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol. 1997...
Journal Club – #15
Effects of 2,3-butanedione monoxide on atrial-atrioventricular nodal conduction in isolated rabbit heart Cheng Y, Mowrey K, Efimov IR, Van Wagoner DR, Tchou PJ, Mazgalev TN J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol. 1997 Jul;8(7):790-802...
Journal Club – #14
High-resolution fluorescent imaging does not reveal a distinct AV nodal anterior input channel (fast pathway) in the rabbit heart during sinus rhythm Efimov IR, Fahy GJ, Cheng Y, Van Wagoner DR, Tchou PJ, Mazgalev TN J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol. 1997 Mar;8(3):295-306...
Journal Club – #13
Activation and repolarization patterns are governed by different structural characteristics of ventricular myocardium: experimental study with voltage sensitive dyes and numerical stimulations Efimov IR, Ermentrout B, Huang DT, Salama G J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol....
Journal Club – #12
Optical Mapping of repolarization and refractoriness from intact hearts Efimov IR, Huang DT, Rendt JM, Salama G Circulation. 1994 Sep; 90(3):1469-80...
Journal Club – #11
Subthreshold stimulation of Purkinje fibers interrupts VT in intact hearts. Experimental study with voltage-sensitive dyes and imaging techniques Salama G, Kanai A, Efimov IR Circulation Research. 1994 Apr; 74(4):604-19...
Journal Club – #10
Quantification of the transmural dynamics of atrial fibrillation by simultaneous endocardial and epicardial optical mapping in an acute sheep model Sarah R. Gutbrod, Richard Walton, Stephen Gilbert, Valentin Meillet, Pierre Jais, Mélèze Hocini, Michel Haïssaguerre,...
Journal Club – #9
An activation-repolarization time metric to predict localized regions of high susceptibility to reentry Nicholas Child, Martin J. Bishop, Ben Hanson, Ruben Coronel, Tobias Opthof, Bastiaan J. Boukens, Richard D. Walton, Igor R. Efimov, Julian Bostock, Yoland Hill,...
Journal Club – #8
The functional role of electrophysiological heterogeneity in the rabbit ventricle during rapid pacing and arrhythmias Martin J. Bishop, Edward J. Vigmond, Gernot Plank Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 304: H1240-H1252, 2013....
Journal Club – #7
The role of Purkinje-Myocardial Coupling during Ventricular Arrhythmia: A modeling study Elham Behradfar, Anders Nygren, Edward J. Vigmond PLoS ONE. 2014 Feb 7;9(2):e88000. [PubMed] Attachment: ...
Journal Club – #6
Processing and analysis of cardiac optical mapping data obtained with potentiometric dyes Jacob I. Laughner, Fu Siong Ng, Matthew S. Sulkin, R. Martin Arthur, Igor R. Efimov Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 303: H753-H765, 2012 [PubMed] Attachment: ...
Journal Club – #5
Aberrant sodium influx causes cardiomyopathy and atrial fibrillation in mice Elaine Wan, Jeffrey Adams, Richard L. Weinberg, Alexander N. Katchman, Joseph Bayne, Sergey I. Zakharov, Lin Yang, John P. Morrow, Hasan Garan, Steven O. Marx J Clin Invest....
Journal Club – #4
Fibrosis, Connexin-43, and Conduction Abnormalities in the Brugada Syndrome Koonlawee Nademanee, Hariharan Raju, Sofia V. de Noronha, Michael Papadkis, Laurence Robinson, Stephen Rothery, Naomasa Makita, Shinya Kowase, Nakorn Boonmee, Vorapot Vitaykritsirikul, Samremg...
Journal Club – #3
Simultaneous Biatrial High-Density (510-512 Electrodes) Epicardial Mapping of Persistent and Long-Standing Persistent Atrial Fibrillation in Patients: New Insights Into the Mechanism of its Maintenance Seungyup Lee, Jayakumar Sahadevan, Celeen M. Khrestian, Ivan...
Journal Club – #2
Atrial Fibrillation driven by micro-anatomic intramural re-entry revealed by simultaneous sub-epicardial and sub-endocardial optical mapping in explanted human hearts Brian J. Hansen, Jichao Zhao, Thomas A. Csepe, Brandon T. Moore, Ning Li, Laura A. Jayne, Anuradha...
Journal Club – #1
Mapping Cardiac Pacemaker Circuits: Methodologica Puzzles of the Sinoatrial Node Optical Mapping Igor R. Efimov, Vadim V. Fedorov, Boyoung Joung, Shien-Fong Lin Circulation Research. 2010;106:255-271 [PubMed] Attachment:...
BME Journal Club Meeting – 3/7/2016 @ 10AM – SEH Room 2000
HUMAN ORGANOTYPIC CULTURED CARDIAC SLICES: NEW PLATFORM FOR HIGH THROUGHPUT PRECLINICAL HUMAN TRIALS Chaoyi Kang is a BME Ph.D. student in the Efimov Cardiovascular Engineering Lab. His research entails investigating the remodeling of sympathetic pathways in adult...
02/08/2016 10:00 AM – Biomedical Engineering Department Journal Club. SEH 2000
OptoDyCE: Automated system for high-throughput all-optical dynamic Aleks Klimas is a BME Ph.D. student in the Cardiac Optogenetics and Optical Imaging Lab. Her primary focus is developing imaging systems that employ optogenetics to optically control and measure...
Our Lab Family Grows
Gus Xavier Gloschat was born to Christopher and Lana Gloschat this morning at 4:07 AM. He was 9 days late and weighed 7 pounds 13 ounces. We are happy to announce that both Gus and Lana are happy and...
Igor Efimov Installed in Collins Professorship
Igor Efimov, a leader in cardiovascular disease research who joined the George Washington University in January as the first chair of its Department of Biomedical Engineering, was installed as the Alisann and Terry Collins Professor of Biomedical Engineering in a...
Top Heart Researcher to Chair Department of Biomedical Engineering
Igor Efimov is creating implantable devices to put damaged hearts back in step. GW Today article...
Media Coverage of Our Paper in Nature Communications with John Rogers
“3D multifunctional integumentary membranes for spatiotemporal cardiac measurements and stimulation across the entire epicardium”. Nature Communications article The Scientist article PubMed Attachment: ncomms3dmim.pdf ...
Efimov Lab with John Rogers Featured on Wired.com
Wired.com, “A Gold Gadget That Would Let You Stop Heart Attacks With a Smartphone” Read...
Efimov Lab with John Rogers Featured in MIT Technology Review
Technology Review article, “Heart Implants, 3-D-Printed to Order” Read...
Efimov Lab with John Rogers Featured In The Scientist
The Scientist: Next Generation: Sensor-Laden Sheath to Monitor the Heart Read...