ciTechCare was again in the news of the Jornal de Leiria on December 11th, where an innovative project was presented that will create and test a new approach to prescribing exercise training in cardiac rehabilitation programs, based on direct assessment of the autonomic nervous system. The research project ‘2ARTs -Accessing Autonomic Control in Cardiac RehabiliTaTion’, led by Rui Fonseca-Pinto, a researcher at ciTechCare and the director of @ESSLei, and with the collaboration of the Centro Hospitalar de Leiria, was funded with 230 thousand euros and was ranked in the top ten out of 420 in the panel of Clinical Engineering of the Bioengineering and Biotechnology of the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia. “Cardiac activity is conditioned by stimuli that, in part, depend on the autonomic nervous system. This technique (microneurography) makes it possible to measure the impulses that the heart receives and that are sent by the nervous system, through the recording on a peripheral nerve”, explained Rui Fonseca-Pinto. Currently, microneurography is not used in clinical practice, it is only used in basic research with animal models. The approved funding will enable the acquisition of equipment and adaptation of the facilities on campus 5 (at ciTechCare), which will allow this Disautonomics Study Laboratory “to be a reality in the medium term in Leiria”.

More information HERE.