Phil Prior (PhD 2008) Publishes Research on Heart Imaging

Phil Prior obtained his PhD in Biomedical Sciences: Medical Physics in 2008. A chapter from his dissertation was recently published in the May 2009 issue of Physics in Medicine and Biology (Development of an imaging modality utilizing 2D optical signals during an EPI-fluorescent optical mapping experiment, volume 54, Pages 3015-3030). His research, performed with CBR member Brad Roth, was directed at developing imaging algorithms to detect electrical activity in the heart. They conclude "our results show that images can be obtained for source terms located below the tissue surface...The work presented here demonstrates the feasibility of a new imaging technique of cardiac electrical activity using optical mapping." Prior is now a Research Assistant at the Oxford Univeristy Computing Laboratory in Oxford, England. Experimentalists doing optical mapping of cardiac tissue have expressed interest in using his algorithm to analyze their data. Read what Prior had to say about Oakland's graduate program in an interview.