Ukrainians are obviously ‘die hard’ – they defend Ukraine, work, give their best, and often just joke when asked about their well-being. However, even ‘iron’ people need to take care of their health. Moreover, the symptoms of some diseases can be hardly noticeable, but the progression of the disease can be rapid, National Research Foundation of Ukraine informs.
For instance, atrial fibrillation, which is one of the main causes of stroke, is not easy to track. Maria Cherska, Doctor of Medical Science, Head of the Consultative and Diagnostic Department of V.P. Komisarenko Institute of Endocrinology and Metabolism of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine, together with a group of Dutch researchers is studying how to monitor changes in the cardiovascular system and prevent strokes using affordable and accessible tools.
The researcher was successful in ‘NWO Hop-On Call for Researchers Based in Ukraine: NWO-NRFU Partnership Initiative 2023’ and joined the Check@home project. Her part of the project is ‘Home-based Digital Screening for Atrial Fibrillation in High-Risk Patients’.
We asked Maria Cherska, what tools she is planning to use to track changes in people’s health? How many patients will be involved in the study? And also, how does the team she joined plan to use the data obtained?
“We are planing to use an application that detects atrial fibrillation (if any) using a smartphone camera and its flash. The patient will be able to receive treatment in time and avoid a stroke”, the researcher explained.
Atrial fibrillation (formerly called flashing arrhythmia) is an involuntary, uncoordinated contraction of the heart muscle fibers. Different parts of the atria contract actively and chaotically, while the ventricles contract irregularly and slowly. This can cause blood clots.
It is not easy to detect this type of arrhythmia. At the institute where Maria Cherska works, heart disorders are detected with the help of special monitoring. “Patients undergo Holter ECG monitoring for 24-48-72 hours, and sometimes for seven days. This makes it possible to detect atrial fibrillation, even if it occurs rarely and without symptoms”, the doctor explained.
During the war, the number of cardiovascular diseases has increased rapidly. Amid severe stress, many people (and not only elderly people) have heart rhythm failures and strokes more often. An affordable and accessible diagnostic system could help stop the disease at its start.
The research will last two years. At the beginning of the study the researcher plans to involve doctors from different regions, and then, together with her colleagues, to identify patients at risk and ask them a number of detailed questions the questionnaire was developed by Dutch researchers and is currently being translated into Ukrainian. If a patient’s answers signal danger, they will be offered round-the-clock heart monitoring. In particular, a doctor will need to attach sensors to the patient that will transmit information to a special smartphone application created by Dutch IT experts.
After a certain period of time, the doctor will repeat the survey and analyse the data in dynamics. This will help to understand whether this patient has atrial fibrillation or not.
“At first glance, our research is simple. But it will help many doctors diagnose the disease timely and reduce the number of strokes”, explains the researcher.
A prerequisite for participation in the call was to find partners in the research community of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. We wondered how the researcher was looking for them?
“When the war began, I received many offers to work in laboratories in other countries”, she replied. “But I decided to stay in Ukraine, because I am first and foremost a doctor, a cardiologist, and there is now a great shortage of doctors in the country. I learned about the Dutch Research Council call from the deputy director of our institute. So I decided to give it a try”.
The researcher joined the seminar held on the NRFU platform, then, following the advice of the staff of the Foundation, she visited the NWO website and found a project that resonated with her work. (Maria Cherska’s PhD thesis focuses on the study of atrial fibrillation). The doctor wrote to the PI, Prof. Dr. F.W. Asselbergs from Amsterdam UMC. He appointed a Zoom meeting, listened to what his colleague from Ukraine was working on, and invited her to join the team.
“The Check@Home project aims to use digital medicine for screening of cardiovascular diseases, kidney diseases, and diabetes. That’s why they were interested in our experience in detecting arrhythmias in people with diabetes and other cardiovascular diseases”, the doctor explained.
This is how the collaboration with the Dutch team began. Researchers from the Netherlands helped fill out the paperwork, and a few days later, Professor Asselbergs informed us that the Ukrainian application had been approved.
“I was very excited”, the doctor recalls. “This is a great project that involves specialists from different research fields. I am grateful that I was immediately accepted into the team. I hope to gain new experience and learn how research teams work in Europe. I am convinced that researchers should look for grant calls, apply, and compete. And the main goal is to apply new diagnostic and prevention tools in Ukraine”.
Interviewed by Svitlana Galata