Fluid-Structure-Interaction Modelling of the Heart Hemodynamics using Statistical Shape Models

• Applicants: Fabian Barbieri, Ph.D.; Professor Dr.-Ing. Leonid Goubergrits; Professor Dr. Titus Kühne
• Subject Area: Fluid Mechanics ; Cardiology, Angiology
• Term: since 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 465178743

For the diagnosis and treatment of heart diseases, in silico medicine plays an increasingly important role. In our recent project of the SPP2311 program, we successfully developed a set of computational models to investigate clinically decisive parameters, including a verified image-based prescribed-motion fluid-structure-interaction (FSI) approach, combined with statistical shape models (SSM) and a lumped element model (LEM). In the second project phase, we will extend, refine, and couple the existing models to obtain a comprehensive methodological framework that allows robust representation of individual patient conditions and reliable simulation of biomarkers for clinically relevant heart diseases. The FSI approach will be complemented by important structural parameters, namely myocardial contraction, global longitudinal strains, and heart valve dynamics. For this purpose, the SSM and LEM will be employed to enhance and complement clinical real-world data and provide boundary conditions for the biomechanical simulations. Close cooperation between engineers and clinicians will ensure the addressing of relevant clinical needs and the evaluation of simulated results with respect to clinical real-world data. Prospective data of healthy volunteers and phantom measurements will be acquired for methodological development and validation. Subsequently, retrospective patient data of pathological cases will be used to show clinical usability. The framework will enable us to approach individual treatment planning by creating a personalized baseline model for a specific dataset in a largely standardized and automated manner. The baseline model can be used to simulate altered patient states, which are either not measurable in clinical routine, such as a post-operative treatment outcome, or imply additional risk to the patient, like stress testing. Both baseline and altered patient states can be simulated based on all common image modalities in cardiology, emphasizing our framework's generalizability. The technical outcome of this project will be a validated methodological framework with robust coupling and flexible combination of the modeling modules (LEM, FSI, SSM), covering simulations of the circulation, hemodynamics, structure, and anatomical features with the possibility to complement missing clinical data. The expected results on the clinical side comprise the applicability of the methodological framework to research different diseases, as treatment planning tool for different treatment procedures and for decision support based on different sources of clinical data.

• DFG Programme: Priority Programmes
• Subproject of: SPP 2311: Robust coupling of continuum-biomechanical in silico models to establish active biological system models for later use in clinical applications - Co-design of modeling, numerics and usability
• Co-Investigator: Dr.-Ing. Katharina Vellguth