Student–Inventor Competition’s first prize for a series of solutions aiding heart rate diagnostics

The award-winning achievement encompasses a series of inventions protected by patent applications submitted to the Polish and European patent offices. The co-creators of the solutions are scientists from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Automatics, Computer Science, and Biomedical Engineering: Professor Piotr Augustyniak, Dr hab. Marek Miśkowicz, and Katarzyna Heryan, MSc.

The inventions pertain to a method and a device for automatic QRS complex detection in the ECG signal, which is characterised by high-efficiency detection of R waves in an electrocardiogram (about 99.5%) and energy-efficiency that allows the method to be used in portable battery-powered devices.

Heart and cardiovascular system diseases are one of the main causes of high mortality rates in Europe and the world. Such inventions make it possible to record and monitor heart rates during the day-to-day functioning of users, during physical activity, for example, and make way for remote health care services. Observing deviations in heart rate facilitates the preliminary diagnosis of cardiovascular system efficiency, allowing simple and early detection of anomalies, as in screening tests.

The 12^th edition of the competition, in addition to five first prizes, also awarded five distinctions. One of such honourable mentions was awarded for the ‘Method for obtaining material for cathodes intended for reversible sodium cells’ developed by the team made up of Anna Plewa, DSc, Andrzej Kulka, DSc, and Professor Janina Molenda of the Faculty of Energy and Fuels.

The Student–Inventor Competition is intended for students, doctoral students, and alumni who, during their studies, became creators/co-creators of an invention or a utility model protected by absolute right or submitted to a patent office in Poland or abroad. The competition also accepts inventions and models developed in international cooperation, whose co-creators were students from foreign universities.

The competition has a significant impact on shaping creative attitudes in students by energising them to participate in R&D activities, search for and create innovative solutions for their own businesses or for their employers, and increase interest and skills to legally use someone else’s work.

The event is organised under the auspices of the Polish Ministry of Education and Science, the Polish Patent Office, the National Centre for Research and Development, and the Conference of Rectors of Academic Schools in Poland.

The 12^th edition of the competition received 103 submissions of inventions developed by 141 creators representing 19 higher education institutions. The works are related to almost all fields of science and technology, including machines and devices, materials, chemical, and medical engineering, as well as agricultural engineering and environmental protection.

The first prize of the competition includes the possibility of participating in the Geneva International Exhibition of Inventions. The trip and stand are sponsored by Kielce University of Technology.