Solving cardiac arrhythmia research queries, like many other types of medical research probes, can take years. The Cardiac Arrhythmia Network of Canada (CANet) has partnered with IBM on a mission to change that with a new cloud-based research platform designed to speed query time from a matter of years to just minutes. Called Heart-SIGN (System for Information Gathering and Networking), the new analytics platform will manage, monitor, store, correlate and analyze data from all CANet research projects. Most important, it will facilitate sharing of findings between researchers. CANet, based at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ont., is a multi-disciplinary network that brings together families, government and leading hospitals and universities, including University Health Network, Hamilton Health Sciences, Sunnybrook, and others. They fund a number of research initiatives across Canada. “The concept is that instead of doing the research individually, they wanted a platform for sharing of results,” says Nathalie LeProhon, Vice President, Healthcare, IBM Canada. CANet is using IBM BigInsights, a set of cloud-based analytical tools that are open source, explains LeProhon, plus IBM’s Watson Analytics to build an informatics platform to help spark new ideas and share research related to heart rhythm disturbances. This combination of IBM...

(London, ON): Today marks the launch of Heart Month and an opportunity to bring to the forefront a heart condition that can be serious and sometimes overlooked. Millions of Canadians experience irregular heart rhythms, known as arrhythmias. In fact, arrhythmias are projected to be the leading cause of death in Canada by 2020. The Cardiac Arrhythmia Network of Canada is a national Network of Centres of Excellence committed to transforming the arrhythmia health care system by focusing on atrial fibrillation (AF), sudden cardiac death (SCD) and syncope (fainting). Although many arrhythmias may occur normally, others are more dangerous and can affect the supply of blood to the heart or other organs. Left untreated, this can sometimes lead to stroke, heart attack, heart failure, or SCD. Sudden cardiac death kills 40,000 Canadians a year, and only has an approximately 5 per cent survival rate. Stephen Blais, an Ottawa City Councillor, is one of those lucky few. “The work [CANet is] doing will make a demonstrable difference in the communities you live in…across Canada…and potentially worldwide,” said Blais. ”Thank you.” The costs associated with AF, SCD and fainting are staggering; when indirect costs such as the loss of productivity of the patients...

Dr. Venkatesh Thiruganasambandamoorthy, a CANet Investigator, was the senior author of a study published yesterday by the CMAJ. Chest pain is the second most common reason for emergency visits across Canada, and accounts for approximately 1 million visits annually. Of those chest pain patients, 70 per cent will be placed on a monitored bed in the emergency department (ED), blocking access to other sicker patients with greater need of a monitored bed. However, only 1.9 per cent of all chest pain patients will develop any arrhythmia during their emergency stay. The published study validated the Ottawa Chest Pain Cardiac Monitoring Rule, a tool that identifies low-risk patients who can be removed from cardiac monitoring. The tool can also be implemented at triage for diverting these low-risk patients to the ambulatory (non-monitored) section of the ED. By using the tool, 1/3 of all chest patients currently utilizing monitored beds for several hours can be diverted or removed from cardiac monitors. The outcomes of this research will mean better utilization of health resources and a reduction in ED wait times. Congratulations to Dr. Thiruganasambandamoorthy and his team of researchers (many of whom are CANet HQP and investigators) on your recent publication.

Since 1977, the third week in January has been designated as National Non-Smoking Week in Canada. We all know the risks associated with tobacco use, but do you know the links to arrhythmia in particular? Dr. Roopinder Sandhu, a CANet Network Investigator, released the results of a study called “Smoking, Smoking Cessation and Risk of Sudden Cardiac Death in Women” in 2012, in which she and her team found that, compared to non-smokers, female smokers were 2.46 times more likely to experience sudden cardiac death (SCD), and the risk of SCD increased by 8% for every 5 years of continued smoking. (Arrhythmias such as ventricular fibrillation cause most sudden cardiac deaths.) The study concluded that efforts to prevent SCD among women should include aggressive strategies for smoking cessation. This weekend, such strategies will be discussed at the 9th Annual Ottawa Conference: State of the Art Clinical Approaches to Smoking Cessation, hosted by the University of Ottawa Heart Institute (a CANet partner). At the conference, healthcare practitioners, researchers and policy-makers will come together to hear the latest in clinical tobacco treatment, program development, and smoking cessation research, from national and international experts. The good news? Help is available to anyone who...

(London, ON): The Cardiac Arrhythmia Network of Canada (CANet), a national research network funded by the Government of Canada through the Networks of Centres of Excellence with its partners have awarded two Strategic Research Grants (SRG) and one Major Industry-partnered Research Grant (MIRG) totaling over $1.3 million with an additional $6.79 million in matching funds. The Strategic Research Grants will fund research that brings together clinicians, engineers, social scientists, industry and government, centered on patients – in an effort to reduce premature deaths and suffering caused by heart rhythm disturbances – or arrhythmias. The Major Industry-partnered Research Grant Program is to support new transdisciplinary research projects which are primarily industry-focused. “The projects that are receiving funding will help CANet to meet our strategic goals and work towards achieving our vision of early detection, effective prevention, efficient and timely treatment of arrhythmia and related conditions, for all Canadians,” said Dr. Anthony Tang, CEO and Scientific Director of CANet. “We are grateful to our partners for providing the matching funds which will help us achieve success.” CANet invited applications for multidisciplinary, multi-sectoral and multi-centered research programs designed to impact the care and/or lives of people living with arrhythmias. After an intensive review...

New IBM Cloud-based analytics platform will accelerate research for leading heart disorders   TORONTO, ON – 20 Oct 2016: IBM (NYSE: IBM) and the Cardiac Arrhythmia Network of Canada (CANet), a Networks of Centres of Excellence (NCE) funded national network dedicated to arrhythmia research and development, are joining forces to launch Heart-SIGN (System for Information Gathering and Networking), a cloud-based analytics platform designed to manage, monitor, store, correlate and analyze data generated from all CANet research projects. CANet will use IBM BigInsights on Cloud and Watson Analytics to build an informatics platform to help spark new ideas and share research related to heart rhythm disturbances. Findings will be derived from and used within its network of more than 100 healthcare professionals, patients, academia, government, and industry experts. By incorporating IBM’s advanced predictive analytics and cognitive capabilities, Heart-SIGN will act as a data resource for arrhythmia research and clinical practice, and provide a platform for research-based and clinical initiatives to help researchers identify specific needs, track patients through the system, and measure outcomes. In addition, the platform will offer researchers evidence-based recommended starting points for analysis, enable interaction in natural language, and visualize results on a single, dynamic interface to gain further...

The Cardiac Arrhythmia Network of Canada (CANet) is pleased to welcome two new members to the Board of Directors. Michael Gilbert, president and CEO of Synergiq Solutions and Dr. Katherine Allan, post-doctoral fellow, School of Nursing at McMaster University. “We are thrilled to have Michael Gilbert join our board as a patient representative. His wealth of experience will be invaluable at the board level,” said Dr. Pierre Boyle, Chair of the Board of Directors for CANet. “And we are also very pleased to welcome Dr. Katherine Allan to the board. Dr. Allan is representing CHAT, CANet’s trainee association and will bring that very important perspective to the board table.” CANet is also pleased to welcome 30 new investigators to our Network. Being a Network Investigator with CANet entitles members to various benefits, including: integrated, multi-disciplinary research collaborations; access to funding for research projects; opportunities to share commercialization and IP revenues; and funding to support HQP, among others.   Dr. Katherine Allan Currently a post-doctoral fellow, Dr. Allan specializes in arrhythmia research with a focus on atrial fibrillation, decision aid methodology, meta-analyses, health-related quality of life, machine learning and dynamic algorithms. With an extensive background with both in-hospital and out-of-hospital cardiac...

The Cardiac Arrhythmia Network of Canada (CANet) is pleased to announce that two of our Network Investigators were the successful grantees for the Heart and Stroke Foundation’s Emerging Research Leaders Initiative Competition (ERLI) competition. Grantees were announced today.  The Emerging Research Leaders Initiative (ERLI) is an establishment grant program for researchers at the transition stage from post-doctoral fellow to early professional career stage in the areas of cardiovascular and/or cerebrovascular research. This initiative aims to support successful early career launch of new investigators. Funding for the awards has been made possible through a partnership with the Heart and Stroke Foundation. Through this initiative, the funds will create a set of conditions conducive to the successful career launch of emerging research leaders in the cardiovascular, and/or cerebrovascular health research domains. CANet is pleased to award $50,000 per year for 3 years ($150,000 each) to the following grantees: Lin, Steve (Rescu, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, St. Michael’s Hospital) Optimizing Cerebral Oxygenation And Metabolism In Cardiac Arrest Mentor: Dorian, Paul Network Affiliation: Cardiac Arrhythmia Network of Canada Roberts, Jason (Department of Medicine, Western University) GENEtic Predictors of Successful Atrial Fibrillation Treatment (GENE-AF) Mentor: Tang, Anthony S.L. Network Affiliation: Cardiac Arrhythmia Network of...

The Canadian Syncope Risk Score will help identify patients’ risk for more serious conditions Ottawa – CANet Investigator Dr. Venkatesh Thiruganasambandamoorthy and a team of researchers from the Ottawa Hospital and the University of Ottawa have developed a nine-question screening tool to help emergency physicians determine if a patient with syncope (fainting) has symptoms of a potentially dangerous underlying condition. The study involved 4,030 syncope patients from six Canadian emergency rooms, making it the largest study of its kind. The results were published yesterday in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ). CANet is funding phase two of the research, which is validating and implementing the tool in emergency departments across Canada. Once validation is complete, Dr. Thiruganasambandamoorthy hopes to make the tool available online and as an app. Every year about 140,000 patients with fainting will visit Canadian emergency departments. The ED visits cost an average of $38.5 million per year. About 10 per cent of these patients will get admitted for an average of 8 days at a cost of $127 million a year in Canada. The Canadian Syncope Risk Score will help emergency physicians provide better health care at a lower cost by discharging low-risk patients quickly and...

A Halifax-led study could lead to better life-saving treatment for people suffering from a deadly heart condition. The clinical trial involved 259 patients at 22 medical centres around the world who suffer from a condition known as ventricular tachycardia, which can result in a dangerous, abnormal heart rhythm and affects about 50,000 Canadians. Heart attacks in athletes: researchers look for answers The study considered two treatment options. It found that one option, which used a wire inserted into blood vessels to stop short circuits, was 28 per cent more likely to prevent the problem from reoccuring than the second option of raising drug doses. Ventricular tachycardia is usually caused by a scar in the heart, according to Dalhousie Medical School’s Dr. John Sapp, who headed the study that was published this week in the New England Journal of Medicine. “This is a very difficult disease to treat,” he said. “It’s when the lower chambers of the heart — which do the pumping — take over and start beating on their own instead of following the lead of the upper chambers, who are supposed to be in control.” Rhythm out of control He said the irregularity can be life threatening if...