Main areas of research

All of the Heart Center's research teams are committed to developing new treatment methods, and are dedicated to promoting the advancement of research within their own fields of expertise. This section will provide you with an overview of the different Departments' main areas of research.

Main areas of research within the Department of Heart Surgery

The hemodynamic performance of bioprosthetic and mechanical valves following heart valve repair or replacement, visualization of blood flow, development of a new mechanical aortic valve for use with catheter-based techniques (patent holder: Prof. Dr. med. Albes), development of models to compute levels of load-bearing and valve degeneration (industry-funded)
The effect of torsion on the function of different tissue-based valves in transcatheter aortic valve replacement (industry-funded)
Development of a new, non-tissue valve for percutaneous and transapical aortic valve replacement (own patent, in cooperation with industrial partners)
Adhesion and degeneration of biological adhesives used in cardiovascular medicine (industry-funded)
Minimally-invasive extracorporeal circuits: reduction in the level of inflammation and cellular trauma caused (industry-funded)
Inflammatory response to extracorporeal circulatory support systems: evaluation of the components of minimally-invasive extracorporeal circuits
Current issues in the field of vacuum-assisted closure of chest wounds (industry-funded)
Psychological support and pastoral care for cardiac patients (in cooperation with the University of Jena, with funding from the German Research Foundation, DFG, AL 562/4-1), two research associates (pastoral care staff; psychologist); two research assistants (students)
Clinical and experimental research in the area of sternal closure techniques

Main areas of research within the Department of Cardiology

Multicenter studies on the initiation of drug-based treatment in patients with acute myocardial infarction (industry-funded)
Multicenter comparative study involving a cholesterol-lowering medicinal product (industry-funded)
The use of robot-guided ablation procedures in patients with arrhythmia
Development of new types of stents and monitoring of performance following implantation
Development of new training concepts and applications for home monitoring in the field of cardiology
New connectivity solutions for the transmission of images and data.
Introduction and implementation of new imaging procedures in the field of electrophysiology
Magnetic resonance imaging and pacemakers
New methods of contractility stimulation in patients with severe heart failure
Sleep problems in patients with severe heart failure
Ongoing developments in relation to new materials developed for use in cardiac resynchronization therapy
Development of performance indicators for the total quality management of hospital inpatient treatment