WP2 - Image based patient specific cardiac modeling
Workpackage Leader: Peter H.M. Bovendeerd, TU/e
In the field of cardiac imaging for diagnosis and planning, patient specific image-based modeling is now considered a key challenge for the treatment of heart failure. Advances in imaging technology allow to quantify global and regional morphology and function of cardiac sub-structures from different image modalities: myocardial anatomy, global and regional myocardial functions, and local viability (i.e. % of scar tissue), can be derived from cine and late-enhancement cardiac MR acquisitions; blood fluid-dynamics within the heart chambers and in large vessels can be computed in detail from phase-contrast MR images ; the dynamics of valvular structures can be quantified from 4D echo datasets. Yet, the potentially huge amount of clinically relevant information is currently hampered by two limitations: first, the extraction of the abovementioned information often requires non-standard acquisition sequences, which may not be readily available to the clinical end-users within commercial imaging hardware and software. Second, integration and interpretation of these images and the corresponding extracted information are handled primarily and almost exclusively by the clinical end-user. This is a tedious, time-consuming task, which requires extensive experience and, despite the latter, is affected by inter-user variability. WP2 of MUSICA is devoted to the development of (semi-)automated image-processing tools with three aims: first, producing purpose-built software capable of integrating different information from multi-modal imaging, thus supporting clinicians in their diagnostic and decisional process with a comprehensive, quantitative and reliable analysis of the patient. Second, creating tools for real time 3D reconstruction of cardiac structures, based on the combination of the aforementioned image modalities with traditional fluoroscopic angiography data; such reconstruction would serve as a novel tool to support device positioning and deployment during percutaneous interventions. Third, developing image-based numerical models for the prediction of the biomechanical effects of different procedures on a patient-specific basis, thus supporting the choice of the optimal treatment.
WP2 is comprised of the following five tasks/projects:
T2.1 Comprehensive quantification and visualization of valve function & flow
T2.2 Comprehensive quantification and visualization of cardiovascular function & flow
T2.3 Modeling tools for data extraction
T2.4 Quantification of intra-cardiac flow
T2.5 4D segmentation and measurements for transcatheter heart valve implantation
