Frederick Vetter

Associate Professor
Electrical, Computer & Biomedical Engineering
(401) 874-5141
vetter@ele.uri.edu

Dr. Frederick Vetter is an Associate Professor in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Rhode Island. He holds the Ph.D. and Master of Science degrees in Bioengineering from the University of California San Diego, and the Master and Bachelor of Science degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University of California Davis.

Dr. Vetter is creating new computational models of the human heart that can provide quantitative information about curvature of the heart surfaces. Heart surface curvature is clinically important because curvature affects the speed of the propagation action potential, the electrical signal that initiates the heartbeat, and also the mechanical stresses that develop in the heart wall during contraction. His research has resulted in a high resolution mode that can compute the spatial variation of principal curvatures (magnitude and direction) in the human heart. The primary input data are acquired using MRI or CT scans, which are non-invasive (hence relatively inexpensive) and available at almost every hospital. This model can provide cardiologists with patient-specific details of the heart's curvatures, and may be a valuable tool for clinical diagnosis of changes in heart muscle geometry after a heart attack or during the progressive stages or heart failure.