Alejandro Alcaine, Ph.D.

About me

Throughout my career, I have focused on bridging the gap between technical innovation and clinical practice, specifically developing tools to enhance decision-making in cardiology. I earned my International Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering (with highest honors) in 2016, establishing a foundation in signal processing tools designed to understand and treat complex arrhythmias.

My postdoctoral stage at BCN MedTech Unit (Universitat Pompeu Fabra) and Hospital Clínic de Barcelona (2017-2019) represented a pivotal shift toward multimodal data analysis. During this period, I integrated Machine Learning techniques to combine signals, medical imaging, and clinical data, creating a more holistic approach to patient diagnosis. This line of research continued through a postdoc at CIBER-BBN (2019-2020), where I worked in advanced assessment for atrial fibrillation.

Beyond research, I have a strong commitment to academic leadership. I spent five years (2020-2025) as an Associate Professor (Profesor Titular de Universidad) at Universidad San Jorge, teaching at Biomedical Engineering and Bioinformatics B.Sc. programmes.

Currently, I serve as an Assistant Professor (Profesor Ayudante Doctor LOSU) at the Department of Computer Science and Systems Engineering at University of Zaragoza. As a co-founder of the Computing for Medical and Biological Applications (CoMBA) research group, I lead the research line on Image Processing and Artificial Intelligence. My current work, centered on the DEVCONHEART project, focuses on developing computational solutions to assess kidney congestion in patients with acute heart failure, providing clinicians with precise, objective metrics for personalized treatment.

Some Keywords: Acute Heart Failure, Atrial Fibrillation, Cardiac Arrhythmias, Cardiorenal Syndrome, Catheter Ablation, Computational Cardiology, Electroanatomical Mapping, Decision Support Systems, Digital Signal Processing, Image Processing, Intracardiac Electrograms, Kidney congestion, Machine Learning, SVentricular Tachycardia.

Examples of activation maps with zoom view of the early activation site (white square): a) using the manual annotations obtained during the ablation procedure, b) using the averaged annotations created after the ablation procedure by two different experts, and c) automatic activation map. LATs are shown in 10 ms isochronal areas colour-coded from red (earlier) to pink (later). White small spheres indicate location of mapping points whereas white big spheres indicate anatomical reference points. Pointed red spheres indicate location of RF delivery. Orange spheres indicate His/Purkinje points, cyan spheres indicate double EGMs, blue spheres indicate end of sheath, black spheres indicate a point of interest, green spheres indicate manually introduced annotations and grey spheres indicate discarded points. Ap: apex, AP: anterior-posterior OT: outflow tract, PA: posterior-anterior, TA: tricuspid annulus.