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Dr. Karthi Umapathy

Karthikeyan Umapathy
Professor
Program Director, Biomedical Engineering
BE, MPhil, PhD, PEng
ENG-459
416-979-5000 ext. 7207

Areas of Academic Interest

Biomedical signal and image analysis

Time-frequency analysis

Cardiac electrophysiology

Magnetic resonance imaging

Feature extraction and pattern classification

Medical instrumentation

Health analytics

Education

Year University Degree
2006 The University of Western Ontario PhD
2003 The University of Hertfordshire MPhil
1993 Bharathiar University BE

Courses Taught

Course Code Course
BME 70A/B Biomedical Engineering Capstone Design
BME 777 Emerging Topics in Biomedical Engineering
EE 8105 Digital Signal Processing I

Spotlight

From a very young age, Karthi Umapathy wanted to know things were made and how they functioned. “I would often disassemble my toys out of curiosity, much to the dismay of my parents,” says Umapathy. “This curiosity and my affinity to create or improvise things organically pushed me towards engineering.”

That insatiable curiosity led him to biomedical engineering, a field that is an  integral part of health care. In his collaborative research with major hospitals in Toronto, he uses advanced signal and image processing solutions, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) methods and computational modelling to arrive at practical solutions to challenging medical problems. 

Given Umapathy’s own journey into engineering, it’s not too surprising that as a professor he always tries to instil a deep sense of curiosity into his students. “At the university level, teaching learners to independently seek, understand and apply the knowledge is critical towards their lifelong learning,” says Umapathy. “Open-ended probing with guidance leads them to discover their own passions.”

Professor Karthi Umapathy poses near a window in the George Vari Engineering and Computing Centre.

“Solving real world biomedical engineering problems is a fulfilling experience because it has a direct, positive impact on the health of our society.”

  • Affiliate Scientist, iBEST & St. Michael’s Hospital
  • Publication in Honors List, Computers in Biology and Medicine 
  • Faculty Scholarly, Research and Creative Activity (SRC) Award, Toronto Metropolitan University
  • Young Investigator Award, American Heart Association
  • M. Hotradat, K. Balasundaram, S. Masse, K. Nair, K. Nanthakumar, K. Umapathy, “Empirical Mode Decomposition Based ECG Features in Classifying and Tracking Ventricular Arrhythmias,” Computers in Biology and Medicine, vol 112, pp. 103379, Aug 2019 (Impact factor 2.28)
  • K. Balasundaram, S. Masse, T. Farid, K. Nair, J. Asta, R. J. Cusimano, E. Vigmond, K. Nanthakumar, K. Umapathy, “Morphologically constrained signal subspace characterization of electrograms during ventricular fibrillation,” Biomedical Signal Processing and Control. vol 38, pp. 379-387, Sep 2017 (Impact factor 2.94).
  • K. Magtibay, M. Beheshti, F. H. Foomany, S. Massé, P. F. Lai, N. Zamiri, J. Asta, K. Nanthakumar, D. Jaffray, S. Krishnan, K. Umapathy. “Feature-based MRI Data Fusion for Cardiac Arrhythmia Studies, “Computers in Biology and Medicine, vol. 1;72, pp. 13-21, May 2016 (Impact factor 2.28).
  • K. Balasundaram, K. Umapathy, J. Jeyaratham, A. Niri, S. Masse, T. Farid, K. Nair, J. Asta, R. J. Cusimano, E. Vigmond, K. Nanthakumar, “Tracking Rotors with Minimal Electrodes: Modulation Index-based Strategy,” Circulation: Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology, vol. 8 (2), pp. 447-455, Mar 2015 (Impact factor 5.41).
  • M. Marsousi, J. Alirezaie, and K. Umapathy, “A Flexible Approach for Simulating Physiological Signals,” Physiological Measurement (Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine - IPEM), vol. 34, pp. 695-712, May 2013. (Impact Factor 2.24).
  • Biomedical Signal and Image Processing Lab (BSIPL)
  • Senior Member, IEEE, IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology and IEEE Signal Processing
  • Member, Professional Engineers Ontario
  • Reviewer, NSERC Grants
  • Reviewer, various BME and SP journals and conferences