Dr Jarosław Piskorski from the Institute of Physics of the University of Zielona Góra became an associate member of the International Society for Holter and Non-invasive Electrocardiology.
Dr. Piskorski is one of nineteen scientists in the world who have received this honor, the university spokeswoman Ewa Sapeńko told PAP.
There are only two Poles in the company – apart from Piskorski, dr hab. Przemysław Guzik from the Medical University in Poznań. The rest of the scientists come from Germany, India, Malaysia, Canada, Japan, Finland, the USA, China and Hungary.
Membership in this elite group was awarded to Poles for scientific achievements, in particular for discovering the asymmetry of the heart rhythm. The Institute of Physics of the University of Zielona Góra has been closely cooperating in scientific research with the Medical University of Poznań for several years.
Dr. Jarosław Piskorski, in the team working on the discovery of a new physiological phenomenon, which is heart rhythm asymmetry, deals with the theoretical and computational aspects of the research, said Sapeńko.
As she informed, at the Institute of Physics of the University of Zielona Góra, it is planned to create a new specialization for students of physics, majoring in technical physics, with the professional title of engineer – medical physics.
Heart rhythm asymmetry is a physiological phenomenon discovered in 2005 and described a year later by Dr. hab. Przemysław Guzik from the Medical University in Poznań and Dr. Jarosław Piskorski from the University of Zielona Góra. This phenomenon is caused by the different behavior of the slowing down and acceleration of the heart rate. In studies conducted for several years, it has been observed that some parameters describing asymmetry may be useful in determining the risk of death in patients after a heart attack, with heart failure or with suspected ischemic heart disease.
The International Society of Holter and Non-Invasive Electrocardiology is the world’s most important scientific society dealing with Holter electrocardiography (a test that allows you to register the electrical activity of the heart for many hours; most often it lasts for a day, but can also last several days).
One of the most spectacular achievements of physics in medicine was the development of the magnetic resonance method, for which in 2003 physicist Sir Peter Mansfield was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine.
Currently, physicists are increasingly employed in hospitals, for example in radiology or electrophysiology laboratories. Some activities in a hospital, by law, must be performed by a medical physicist – in particular, this concerns the calculation of the permissible exposure to ionizing radiation. (PAP)