title: Towards a fast and efficient approach for modelling the patient-specific ventricular haemodynamics.
abstract: Computer modelling of the heart has emerged over the past decade as a powerful technique to explore the cardiovascular pathophysiology and inform clinical diagnosis. The current state-of-the-art in biophysical modelling requires a wealth of, potentially invasive, clinical data for the parametrisation and validation of the models, a process that is still too long and complex to be compatible with the clinical decision-making time. Therefore, there remains a need for models that can be quickly customised to reconstruct physical processes difficult to measure directly in patients. In this paper, we propose a less resource-intensive approach to modelling, whereby computational fluid-dynamics (CFD) models are constrained exclusively by boundary motion derived from imaging data through a validated wall tracking algorithm. These models are generated and parametrised based solely on ultrasound data, whose acquisition is fast, inexpensive and routine in all patients. To maximise the time and computational efficiency, a semi-automated pipeline is embedded in an image processing workflow to personalise the models. Applying this approach to two patient cases, we demonstrate this tool can be directly used in the clinic to interpret and complement the available clinical data by providing a quantitative indication of clinical markers that cannot be easily derived from imaging, such as pressure gradients and the flow energy.
authors.affiliation: Division of Imaging Sciences and Biomedical Engineering, King's College London, St. Thomas' Hospital, London SE1 7EH, UK.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: de Vecchi
authors.affiliation: Division of Imaging Sciences and Biomedical Engineering, King's College London, St. Thomas' Hospital, London SE1 7EH, UK.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gomez
authors.affiliation: Evelina London Children's Hospital, London SE1 7EH, UK.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Pushparajah
authors.affiliation: Division of Imaging Sciences and Biomedical Engineering, King's College London, St. Thomas' Hospital, London SE1 7EH, UK.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Schaeffter
authors.affiliation: Division of Imaging Sciences and Biomedical Engineering, King's College London, St. Thomas' Hospital, London SE1 7EH, UK.
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Nordsletten
authors.affiliation: Evelina London Children's Hospital, London SE1 7EH, UK.
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Simpson
authors.affiliation: Division of Imaging Sciences and Biomedical Engineering, King's College London, St. Thomas' Hospital, London SE1 7EH, UK.
authors.forename: G P
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Penney
authors.affiliation: Division of Imaging Sciences and Biomedical Engineering, King's College London, St. Thomas' Hospital, London SE1 7EH, UK. Electronic address: np.smith@auckland.ac.nz.
authors.forename: N P
authors.initials: NP
authors.lastname: Smith
mesh_terms: D001783:Blood Flow Velocity / Q000502:physiology*; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology; D003198:Computer Simulation; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods*; D008955:Models, Cardiovascular; D009200:Myocardial Contraction / Q000502:physiology*; D066230:Patient-Specific Modeling; D012212:Rheology / Q000379:methods; D016276:Ventricular Function / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: 3D blood flow reconstruction; B-Mode echocardiography; Cardiac haemodynamics; Colour Doppler; Personalized numerical modelling