Investigation of the physiological and pathophysiological role of ion currents in heart muscle and cancer cells as well as in silico modeling of the underlying bioelectrical processes.
Network: In collaboration with Helmut Ahammer, sinus node beat-to-beat variability is investigated using non-linear analysis methods. With Seth Hallström, Bruno Podesser (Center for Biomedical Research and Translational Surgery, Medical University of Vienna) and Gerhard Cvirn (Otto Loewi Research Center, Department of Physiological Chemistry, Medical University of Graz), the cardiodepressive effects of small-molecule peptides isolated from human plasma are investigated at the cellular level. In cooperation with Sonja Langthaler and Niroj Shrestha, the role of cell membrane potential as a biophysical key signal in the regulation of proliferation and cell cycle progression in cancer is investigated.
Focus: Comsystan - Complex system analysis
Digital images in biology and medicine often have very irregular and branched structures that cannot be described quantitatively by Euclidean geometry. The application of scale-free morphology enables a comprehensive description of shapes and structures that exhibit self-affinity and pronounced space-filling properties. New algorithms are being developed to determine fractal dimensions of 2D images and 3D image stacks (pyramid dimension, Higuchi dimension, Tug of War Lacunarity). Fractal dimensions make it possible to distinguish between different types of texture. Applications include intraepithelial neoplasia, nerve fibers, glioma cells, cancer invasion or AVM.
Measured time signals show inherently deterministic or stochastic variations. Non-linear analyses such as fractal dimensions, trend-adjusted fluctuation analyses or entropies measure the variability of a signal and disregard absolute deflections. Applications include autorhythmic heart cells and tissue or human balance and vertigo.
Software development:
Fiji/ImageJ2 plugins for complexity analysis of digital images and time signals [ComsystanJ].
Collaborations:
Martin A Reiss, [NASA]
Ion Andronache, [CAIMT]
Marko Radulovic, [IORS]
Fabián Labra-Spröhnle, [Noologica]
Herbert F Jelinek, [HEIC]
