Doctor Wolter!

Congratulations to dr. Justine Wolter on successfully defending her PhD thesis on the 26th of February earlier this year! Her dissertation, entitled “Pulse shape optimization for cardiac stimulation - Analyzing the activation of virtual electrodes”, explored new ways to make electrical defibrillation of cardiac arrhythmias more energy-efficient. We congratulate Justine on this important milestone and wish her all the best for what comes next!

Cardiac arrhythmias such as atrial and ventricular fibrillation are commonly treated using electrical shocks, but conventional defibrillation requires high energies that can cause pain and other unwanted effects. In her thesis, Justine investigated how the shape of the electrical pulse influences the energy needed to restore normal cardiac activity. Using computer simulations together with experimental observations, her work compared different stimulation strategies and showed that the most efficient pulse shape depends on the conditions and structures being targeted in the heart. These findings could help guide the development of lower-energy and less painful approaches to defibrillation.