​Sanjiv Narayan conducts research as part of Stanford Health Care, long known for its Cardiac Arrhythmia Service, a specialized division providing world-class treatment for people with atrial fibrillation and other heart rhythm disorders. Now, with the recent launch of the Stanford Center for Arrhythmia Research (created by co-directors Sanjiv Narayan, MD, PhD, and Paul Wang, MD), Stanford is ready to take its research achievements to the next level. 

Established in September 2017, the Stanford Center for Arrhythmia Research is working toward highly ambitious goals in the field of arrhythmia treatment. To this end, the Center has adopted a uniquely interdisciplinary approach: Believing breakthroughs are more likely when experts from many different fields are collaborating together, the Center’s co-directors have worked to attract key faculty members from disciplines ranging from engineering and computer science, to social science and psychology, to stem cell biology and bariatric surgery.

Dr. Narayan himself is a good example of the innovation that can come from the mixing of different disciplines. Originally a computational biologist trained in mathematics and biology, he became a cardiologist after becoming fascinated with the heart and its electrical signals. While working in this new field at UC San Diego, he was able to apply his computational biology expertise and mathematical knowledge to develop various mapping technologies, such as FIRM, and also machine learning to better understand complex rhythm disturbances.

​A professor at Stanford University, Dr. Sanjiv Narayan has developed innovative therapies such as focal impulse and rotor modulation (FIRM). In fact, Dr. Sanjiv Narayan's cardiology insights led to the founding of a start-up company called Topera, which was later purchased by Abbott. He has also lectured on matters related to cardiology during grand rounds at Abbott Northwest Hospital and other medical facilities.

Before looking at the FIRM therapies, it’s important to understand atrial fibrillation and its consequences for heart health. Classified as an arrhythmia, atrial fibrillation occurs when the atria, the two upper chambers of the heart, behave abnormally, contracting rapidly but ineffectively. This problem can result in blood gathering in the atria because they are unable to pump all the blood out. In some cases, atrial fibrillation leads to stroke and even heart failure.

FIRM addresses atrial fibrillation by locating the tissues that are sending the electrical signals that give rise to the arrhythmia. Doctors then ablate, or destroy, those tissues with the hope of eliminating the cause of atrial fibrillation. FIRM is more precise than other ablation methods in that it is able to hone in on the particular tissues responsible, meaning that doctors need not destroy as much heart tissue when they perform ablations.