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Dr. Friedrich Wetterling
Assistant Professor, Electronic & Elect. Engineering

Biography

Assistant Professor for Biomedical Circuits and Systems at Trinity College and head of The MediCAS Lab, a position anchored at the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering within the School of Engineering.

He led the radio-frequency and system development of an innovative implantable device for congestive heart failure monitoring at FIRE1 (2016-2024). He was a Marie-Curie Research Fellow at Trinity College where he developed a novel monitoring method for cardiac function using inductively coupled resonators, i.e. radio-frequency cardiography (2013-2015). Prior to that he led the Magnetic Resonance Methods and Imaging group at the Chair for Computer Assisted Clinical Medicine, Heidelberg University (2009-2012) where his team captured the first whole body tomographic image set solely based upon the local sodium concentration in a human.

In 2010, he was awarded the Siemens Prize for establishing Sodium-23 Magnetic Resonance Imaging for stroke tissue viability assessment at the annual meeting of the German Medical Physics Association (DGMP) in Freiburg, Germany. He is a member of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM). He has authored and co-authored over 40 publications in peer-reviewed scientific journals and conferences papers. And he has authored more than 30 patent applications.

Dr. Friedrich Wetterling is head of the Medical Circuits and Systems Lab (MediCAS) at the department of Electronics and Electrical Engineering where he and his team are researching and developing: - #accessible devices that are remotely deployable using portable, wearable, and implantable circuits - #sustainable systems that reduce the need of finite resources such as helium - #meaningful solutions offering physiologically-relevant and accurate measurements to monitor and to manage chronic health conditions

Publications and Further Research Outputs

Peer-Reviewed Publications

Aristokleous N, Collopy D , Wetterling F., Sweeney F., O'Cearbhaill E., O"Rourke M., IN SILICO MODELLING OF FLOW-INDUCED COLLAPSE OF BLOOD VESSELS: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF VOLUME STATUSES, 29th Annual Conference of the Section of Bioengineering of the Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland (BinI 2024), Belfast, Northern Ireland, 26-27 January 2024, 2024 Conference Paper, 2024 TARA - Full Text

Málek F, Došká" P, Wetterling F, Marešová Z, Reddy V, Neužil P, HOW INFERIOR VENA CAVA COLLAPSIBILITY INDEX FROM A NOVEL IMPLANTABLE SENSOR CORRELATES WITH ESTIMATED PLASMA VOLUME AND NT-PROBNP: A STUDY IN PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC HEART FAILURE, Czech Cardiovascular Research and Innovation Days 2023, Prague, Czech Republic, 20-21 November 2023, 2023, pp1 Conference Paper, 2023

Wetterling F, Sheridan WS, Testani JM, Borlaug BA, Fudim M, Damman K, Gray A, Gaines P, Poloczek M, Madden S, Tucker J, Buxo T, Gaul R, Corcoran L, Sweeney F, Burkhoff D., Safety and performance of a novel implantable sensor in the inferior vena cava under acute and chronic intravascular volume modulation., European journal of heart failure, 25, (5), 2023, p754-763 Journal Article, 2023 DOI

Málek F, Došká" P, Wetterling F, Marešová Z, Reddy V, Neužil P, MONITORING OF VOLUME STATUS USING A NOVEL SENSOR FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF INFERIOR VENA CAVA AREA AND COLLAPSIBILITY IN A PATIENT WITH HFREF RECEIVING ADVANCED HEART FAILURE THERAPIES, Czech Cardiovascular Research and Innovation Days 2023, Prague, Czech Republic, 20-21 November 2023, 2023, pp1 Conference Paper, 2023 TARA - Full Text

Wacker M, Wetterling F, Feczko T, Arkelius K, Arnou A, Lellouche J, Ansar S, Advanced theranostic nanocarrier-mediated delivery of NGF in a combination therapy trigger enhanced recovery after stroke, Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow & Metabolism, BRAIN and BRAIN-PET 2022, Glasgow, Scotland, 28 May - 1 June 2022, 42, (1S), 2022, pp263 - 264 Conference Paper, 2022

Ivey-Miranda JB, Wetterling F, Gaul R, Sheridan S, Asher JL, Rao VS, Maulion C, Mahoney D, Mebazaa A, Gray AP, Burkhoff D, Cowie MR, Cox ZL, Butler J, Fudim M, McDonald K, Damman K, Borlaug BA, Testani JM., Changes in inferior vena cava area represent a more sensitive metric than changes in filling pressures during experimental manipulation of intravascular volume and tone., European journal of heart failure, 24, (3), 2022, p455-462 Journal Article, 2022 DOI

Raikhelkar J, Kebed K, Narang A, Kruse E, Weatherford S, Imamura T., Wetterling F, Nguyen A, Sayer G, Lang R., Uriel N., Inferior Vena Cava Collapsibility Index Assessed by 3D Echocardiography: A Novel Tool for the Assessment of Right Atrial Pressure in Heart Failure Patients, Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography, 32, (6), 2019, pp130 - 131 Conference Paper, 2019

McCarthy H., Stanley J., Piech R., Wetterling F., Skokauskas N., Mulligan A., Donohoe G., Mullins D., Kelly J., Johnson K., Fagan A., Gill M., Meaney J., Frodl T., Childhood-Diagnosed ADHD, Symptom Progression, and Reversal Learning in Adulthood, Journal of Attention Disorders, 22, (6), 2018, 561, p570 Journal Article, 2018

Mostajeran M, Wetterling F, Blixt FW, Edvinsson L, Ansar S., Acute mitogen-activated protein kinase 1/2 inhibition improves functional recovery and vascular changes after ischaemic stroke in rat-monitored by 9.4 T magnetic resonance imaging., Acta physiologica (Oxford, England), 223, (1), 2018, pe12985 Journal Article, 2018 DOI

Wetterling F, Chatzikonstantinou E, Tritschler L, Meairs S, Fatar M, Schad LR, Ansar S., Investigating potentially salvageable penumbra tissue in an in vivo model of transient ischemic stroke using sodium, diffusion, and perfusion magnetic resonance imaging., BMC neuroscience, 17, (1), 2016, p82 Journal Article, 2016 DOI

Weinberger O., Winter L., Dieringer M. A., Els A., Oezerdem C., Rieger J., Kuehne A., Cassara A. M., Pfeiffer H., Wetterling F., Niendorf T., Local Multi-Channel RF Surface Coil versus Body RF Coil Transmission for Cardiac Magnetic Resonance at 3 Tesla: Which Configuration Is Winning the Game?, PLoS ONE, 11, (9), 2016, p23 Journal Article, 2016

Tozzi L., Carballedo A., Wetterling F., McCarthy H., O'Keane V., Gill M., Morris D., Fahey C., Meaney J., Frodl T., Single Nucleotide Polymorphism of the FKBP5 Gene and Childhood Maltreatment as Predictors of Structural Changes in Brain Areas Involved in Emotional Processing in Depression., Neuropsychopharmacology, 41, 2016, p487-497 Journal Article, 2016 DOI

McGroarty M., Meldrum D., Giblin S., French H.,Wetterling F., Variations in knee flexion measurements for overhead squat as measured with marker-based and markerless motion capture systems, Gait & Posture, 49, (S), 2016, p89 - 90 Journal Article, 2016

Giblin, S., Meldrum D., McGroarty M., O'Brien S., Rand S., Smith S., Grogan K., Wetterling F., Bone length calibration can significantly improve the measurement accuracy of knee flexion angle when using a marker-less system to capture the motion of countermovement jump, 3rd IEEE EMBS International Conference on Biomedical and Health Informatics, BHI 2016, 2016, p392-397 Journal Article, 2016

McGroarty M., Giblin S., Meldrum D., Wetterling F., ACCURACY OF A LOW-COST NOVEL COMPUTER-VISION DYNAMIC MOVEMENT ASSESSMENT: POTENTIAL LIMITATIONS AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS, Int. Arch. Photogramm. Remote Sens. Spatial Inf. Sci., XL-5, (W8), 2016, p1 - 5 Journal Article, 2016 URL

Gobbo, O.L., Wetterling, F., Vaes, P., Teughels, S., Markos, F., Edge, D., Shortt, C. M., Crosbie-Staunton, K., Radomski, M.W., Volkov, Y., Prina-Mello, A, Biodistribution and pharmacokinetic studies of SPION using particle Electron Paramagnetic Resonance, MRI and ICP-MS, Nanomedicine (Lond.), 10, 2015, p1751 - 1760 Journal Article, 2015 URL DOI

Wetterling, F., McCarthy, H., Tozzi, L., Skokauskas, N., O'Doherty J. P., Mulligan, A., Meaney, J., Fagan, A. J., Gill, M., Frodl, T., Impaired Reward Processing in the Human Prefrontal Cortex Distinguishes Between Persistent and Remittent Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, HUMAN BRAIN MAPPING, 36, (1), 2015, p4648-4663 Journal Article, 2015 DOI URL

Giblin S.,Smith M., Smith S., O'Brien S., McMorrow J. P., Meaney J., Wetterling F., Whole-Body Magnetic Resonance Imaging Enables Assessing Spatial Accuracy and Precision of Skeletal Joint Locations Inferred from Motion Capture Systems, 6th International Conference on 3D Body Scanning Technologies, Lugano, Switzerland, 27-28 October 2015, 2015, pp98 - 105 Conference Paper, 2015 TARA - Full Text

Andreas Graessl, Anjuli Ruehle, Helmar Waiczies, Ana Resetar, Stefan H Hoffmann, Jan Rieger, Friedrich Wetterling, Lukas Winter, Armin M Nagel, Thoralf Niendorf, Sodium MRI of the human heart at 7.0 T: preliminary results, NMR in Biomedicine, 2015 Journal Article, 2015 DOI

Friedrich Wetterling, Lindsay Gallagher, Jim Mullin, William M Holmes, Chris McCabe, I Mhairi Macrae and Andrew J Fagan, Sodium-23 magnetic resonance imaging has potential for improving penumbra detection but not for estimating stroke onset time, Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism, 35, (1), 2015, p103 - 110 Journal Article, 2015 TARA - Full Text DOI

Sack M, Wetterling F, Sartorius A, Ende G, Weber-Fahr W, Signal-to-noise ratio of a mouse brain (13) C CryoProbe system in comparison with room temperature coils: spectroscopic phantom and in vivo results., NMR in biomedicine, 27, (6), 2014, p709-15 Journal Article, 2014 URL DOI

Danisch, Kalayciyan, Wetterling, Schad, Bilateral 23Na MR imaging of the breast and quantification of sodium concentration, ZEITUNG FUER MEDIZINISCHE PHYSIK, 24, (1), 2014, p65-72 Journal Article, 2014 DOI URL

Sebastian Weingärtner, Friedrich Wetterling, Simon Konstandin, Marc Fatar, Eva Neumaier-Probst, Lothar Schad, Scan time reduction in 23Na-magnetic resonance imaging using the chemical shift imaging sequence: Evaluation of an iterative reconstruction method, ZETUNG FÜR MEDIZINISCHE PHYSIK, 2014, p1 - 11 Journal Article, 2014 URL

Wetterling, Mok, McGoldrick, Basu, Non-Destructive Investigation of Glass Fiber Reinforced Composites via Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Key Engineering Materials, 569-570, 2013, p126 - 131 Journal Article, 2013 URL DOI

Kalayciyan, Wetterling, Neudecker et al., Bilateral kidney sodium-MRI: Enabling accurate quantification of renal sodium concentration through a two-element phased array system, JOURNAL OF MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING, 2013 Journal Article, 2013 DOI URL

Wetterling et al., Whole-body sodium-mri at 3 T using an asymmetric birdcage resonator and short echo time sequence: first images of a male volunteer , PHYSICS IN MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY, 57, 2012, p4555 - 4567 Journal Article, 2012 DOI URL

Wetterling et al., The design of a double-tuned two-port surface resonator and its application to in vivo hydrogen- and sodium-mri, Journal of Magnetic Resonance, 217, 2012, p10 - 18 Journal Article, 2012 URL DOI

Hausmann, Konstandin, Wetterling et al., Apparent diffusion coefficient and sodium concentration measurements in human prostate tissue via hydrogen-1 and sodium-23 mri in a clinical setting at 3T, INVESTIGATIVE RADIOLOGY, 47, (12), 2012, p677 - 682 Journal Article, 2012 DOI URL

Wetterling, Ansar, Handwerker, Sodium-23 magnetic resonance imaging during and after transient cerebral ischemia: multinuclear stroke protocols for double-tuned (23)Na/(1)H resonator systems, PHYSICS IN MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY, 57, (21), 2012, p6929-46 Journal Article, 2012 URL DOI

Wetterling, F., Gallagher, L., Macrae, I. M., Junge, S. and Fagan, A. J., Regional and temporal variations in tissue sodium concentration during the acute stroke phase, Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, 67, (3), 2012, p740 - 749 Journal Article, 2012 DOI TARA - Full Text

El-Abyad, Kalayciyan, Schad, Wetterling, Enhancing the detector sensitivity of a radio-frequency surface resonator for potassium-39 mri at 18.7 mhz: probing different geometries at various temperatures, IEEE XPLORE, 42nd European Microwave Conference, Amsterdam, 29 Oct - 1 Nov, 2012, pp444 - 7 Conference Paper, 2012 URL TARA - Full Text

Wetterling et al., A dual resonator system for whole-body sodium-mri at 3T, 19th ANNUAL MEETING OF THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR MAGNETIC RESONANCE IN MEDICINE, Montreal, Canada, 2011, pp471 Conference Paper, 2011 URL TARA - Full Text

Heiler, Langhauser, Wetterling et al., Chemical shift sodium imaging in a mouse model of thromboembolic stroke at 9.4 T, JOURNAL OF MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING, 34, 2011, p935 - 940 Journal Article, 2011 DOI URL

Wetterling, F., Gallagher, W. Holmes, L., Macrae, I. M., and Fagan, A. J., Temporal water mobility and sodium intensity measurements in penumbra and core tissue during acute stroke, International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, Montreal, Canada, 2011, pp470- Conference Paper, 2011 TARA - Full Text URL DOI

Wetterling et al., A double-tuned hydrogen-1/sodium-23 dual resonator system for tissue sodium concentration measurements in the rat brain via sodium mri, PHYSICS IN MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY, 55, 2010, p7681 - 7695 Journal Article, 2010 DOI URL

F. Wetterling, L. Gallagher, I.M. Macrae, S. Junge, A.J. Fagan, The Quantification of Tissue Sodium Concentration using 23Na-Magnetic Resonance Microscopy at 7 T: Probing the Acute Stroke Phase, Proceedings of 15th Scientific Meeting of International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, 15th Scientific Meeting of International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, Stockholm, Sweden, May, 2010, pp5173- Poster, 2010 TARA - Full Text

F. Wetterling, L. Gallagher, I.M. Macrae, S. Junge, A.J. Fagan, A Double-Tuned 1H/23Na Two Element Phased Array System for In Vivo 23Na Magnetic Resonance Microscopy at 7 T, Proceedings of 15th Scientific Meeting of International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, 15th Scientific Meeting of International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, Stockholm, Sweden, May, 2010, pp5272 Poster, 2010 TARA - Full Text

F. Wetterling, L. Gallagher, I.M. Macrae, S. Junge, A.J. Fagan, Non-Invasive and Temporally Resolved Measurement of Ischaemic Tissue Damage in Acute Stroke Using Quantitative 23Na Magnetic Resonance Microscopy at 7 T, Proceedings of 15th Scientific Meeting of International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, 15th Scientific Meeting of International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, Stockholm, Sweden, May, 2010, pp5255- Oral Presentation, 2010 TARA - Full Text

Friedrich Wetterling, Judith Kisubi, Eva Haardt, Simon Konstandin, Armin Nagel, Marc Fatar, Eva Neumaier-Probst, Lothar R. Schad, Quantitative 23Na-MRI: From Pre-Clinical to Clinical Practice, 41st annual meeting of the German Association for Medical Physics (DGMP), Freiburg, Germany, 41, 2010, pp1 Conference Paper, 2010 TARA - Full Text URL

Friedrich Wetterling, The Detection of Infarcted Stroke Tissue via Localised Sodium Concentration Measurements: A Non-Invasive Approach, Trinity College Dublin, 2009 Thesis, 2009 TARA - Full Text URL

F. Wetterling, S. Junge, A. Nauerth, I.M. Macrae, .A.J. Fagan, The Measurement of Spatially-Dependant Tissue Sodium Concentration Increase in a Rodent MCAO Stroke Model, ISMRM 17th Scientific Meeting, Honolulu, USA, 18-24th April , 2009 Poster, 2009 TARA - Full Text

Wetterling et al., The localization of focal heart activity via body surface potential measurements: tests in a heterogeneous torso phantom, PHYSICS IN MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY, 54, 2009, p5395 - 5409 Journal Article, 2009 DOI URL

Andrew Fagan, Friedrich Wetterling, Development of sodium-MRI for stroke and tumour investigations in rodents, IRISH JOURNAL OF MEDICAL SCIENCE, Faculty of Radiologists Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin, 25-27 September 2008, edited by Irish Journal of Medical Science , 177, (Supplement 8), Springer, 2008, ppS271 - S271 Conference Paper, 2008 URL TARA - Full Text

Non-Peer-Reviewed Publications

Fiachra M Sweeney, Hanson S Gifford III, Jessi Johnson, Pablo Martin, Stephen Sheridan, Douglas S Sutton, Friedrich Wetterling, Conor M Hanley, 'Wireless resonant circuit and variable inductance vascular monitoring implants and anchoring structures therefore', USPTO, 2023, 26 March 2024, Foundry Innovation and Research 1 Ltd Patent, 2023 TARA - Full Text Handle URL

Hanson S Gifford III, Conor M Hanley, Jessi Johnson, Pablo Martin, Shriram Raghunathan, Stephen Sheridan, Douglas S Sutton, Fiachra M Sweeney, Friedrich Wetterling, 'Wireless vascular monitoring implants', USPTO, 10806352, 2020, 24 March 2024, Foundry Innovation & Research1, Ltd.,Dublin(IE) Patent, 2020 TARA - Full Text URL

Research Expertise

Projects

  • Title
    • Unlocking the potential of ultrahigh field 23Na magnetic resonance to quantify tissue sodium content for probing viability of the heart: where physics, biology and medicine meet
  • Summary
    • Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the leading cause of death with 60% of CVDs associated with coronary artery diseases (CAD). CAD is the major cause of myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as heart attack, which can be life threatening and places a huge socio-economic burden on the EU. The most widely used therapy for CAD is revascularization, and myocardial viability is a determining factor and predictor for patient outcomes. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has become a mainstay of clinical diagnosis, but so far has seen limited use in the study of the heart. Here I aim to unlock the potential of myocardial viability imaging with physiometabolic MRI to provide a new instrument for the diagnosis and assessment of therapy success of CAD. Therefore I propose a quantitative approach based on MRI of sodium (23Na) that will allow me to observe new features of the working heart, at a level of resolution that will be highly valuable in understanding, finely diagnosing, and designing treatments for CVD. To meet this goal I pursue the development of cutting edge sodium MRI technology. Its capacity for quantitative assessment of sodium tissue content will be validated in model systems and in healthy subjects. The clinical applicability of 23Na MRI for viability imaging will be examined in revascularized MI patients. For this purpose I will leverage the sensitivity gain inherent to ultrahigh field MRI (B0"7.0 T), capitalize on my outstanding expertise in the field of physiometabolic MRI and build on my interdisciplinary skills formed around MRI physics. In this project, this expertise will be taken to the next level to elucidate the progression of sodium concentration in ischemic myocardial tissue. This research will eliminate the main barriers to the study of tissue viability and will open entirely new possibilities for non-invasive, in vivo phenotyping as a tool for individualised medicine tailored to offset a major socio-economic burden on the EU induced by CVD.
  • Funding Agency
    • European Commission
  • Date From
    • 1 January 2018
  • Date To
    • 31 December 2019
  • Title
    • A non-invasive deep brain stimulation device
  • Funding Agency
    • Enterprise Ireland
  • Date From
    • 2013
  • Date To
    • 2014
  • Title
    • Development of a nuclear magnetic resonance imaging technique for the accurate detection and quantification of tissue sodium concentration in animal models of disease.
  • Funding Agency
    • Science Foundation Ireland
  • Date From
    • 01/05/2006
  • Date To
    • 27/09/2009

Keywords

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI); Medical Devices; Radio-frequency resonator / coil systems for MRI; Tissue viability imaging after ischaemic stroke ; Tissue viability imaging after tumor-therapy; Whole-body sodium-MRI in patients; X-nuclei MRI (i.e. 13C, 19F, 23Na, 31P, 35Cl, 39K)

Recognition

Awards and Honours

AI Ireland award for best use of robotic process automation and cognitive Artificial Intelligence (AI) 2021

Intel Prize at DCU Hackathon for presenting a low cost MRI solution to assess beef quality (as part of the Bó Selecta team) 2015

Enterprise Ireland Commercialization Feasibility Grant (15.000EUR): A non-invasive deep brain stimulation device 2014

Poster Prize (Ultra High Field Symposium, Berlin), Multi-nuclear magnetic resonance imaging at ultra-high magnetic field strength: probing sodium-23, chlorine-35, potassium-39, and phosphorus-31 signals in tissue deprived of arterial blood supply 2013

Summa Cum Laude Merit Award (International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine), 'In vivo Hydrogen-1, Sodium-23, Phosphorus-31, and Potassium-39 Magnetic Resonance Imaging after Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusion' 2012

Summa Cum Laude Merit Award (International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine), 'Temporally-resolved imaging of renal sodium-23 changes after furosemid injection' 2012

Siemens Young Investigator Award (German Society for Medical Physics), 'Sodium Concentration as a Marker for Tissue Viability after Ischaemic Stroke' 2010

Selected member (by research proposal) of the 4th excellence initiative for molecular and disease-related imaging; German Science Foundation (DFG), Aachen, Germany 2010

Selected member (by research proposal) of the 4th excellence initiative "molecular and disease-related imaging" 2010 German research association (DFG), Aachen, Germany 2010

AstraZeneca Award (British Chapter of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance Imaging) for 'outstanding, innovative research with potential utility in medicine or medical research' 2009

Award for the best oral presentation from a young scientist (Association of Physical Scientists in Medicine), 'A Dual RF Resonator System for Sodium MRI' 2008