A One-Chip Solution for Automated Prediction of Atrial Fibrillation after Cardiac Surgery

Atrial fibrillation following routine cardiac surgery is a major cause of post-operative patient morbidity. Reliable prediction of the imminent onset of atrial fibrillation can be achieved by monitoring and analyzing electrical signals from the patient’s heart, thus allowing prophylactic treatment of those patients at risk. However, predicting atrial fibrillation manually remains a complicated and daunting task. We have therefore developed a chip which is capable of predicting the onset of atrial fibrillation automatically, based on the monitoring of the monophasic action potential recorded from the patient’s heart. Our system operates fully autonomously and it is stable, resource-conserving and extensible.