Method and system for patient-specific modeling of blood flow

A system for enabling the assessment of one or more blood vessels of patient, based on calculated values of a blood flow characteristic, the system comprising at least:

• a processor configured for:
• receiving patient-specific imaging data of a geometry of a plurality of blood vessels interconnected to form a vessel tree of the patient;
• determining, using a processor, a three-dimensional geometrical model of the plurality of blood vessels interconnected to form the vessel tree of the patient, based on the received patient-specific imaging data, the three-dimensional geometrical model comprising a model, in three dimensions, of a geometry of the plurality of blood vessels;
• determining, using the processor, a patient-specific model of blood flow through the plurality of blood vessels interconnected to form the vessel tree of the patient, based on the received patient-specific imaging data, the patient-specific model of blood flow comprising a model of the flow of blood through the plurality of blood vessels;
• determining a first value of the blood flow characteristic within the plurality of blood vessels of the patient based on the three-dimensional geometrical model or the patient-specific model of blood flow through the plurality of blood vessels of the patient;
• upon receiving a selection, from a user input received from a user or health care provider, of a blood vessel of the plurality of blood vessels interconnected to form the vessel tree, enabling a modification of one or both of the patient-specific model of blood flow and a geometry of the three-dimensional geometrical model to simulate an occlusion that prevents blood flow through the blood vessel of the plurality of blood vessels interconnected to form the vessel tree;
• modifying the patient-specific model of blood flow to prevent blood flow through the blood vessel of the plurality of blood vessels to simulate the occlusion of the blood vessel of the plurality of blood vessels interconnected to form the vessel tree;
• predicting a change in blood flow, based on the occlusion, in vessels of the vessel tree different from the blood vessel having the occlusion, based on the modified patient-specific model of blood flow and/or the modified three-dimensional geometrical model;
• determining a second value of the blood flow characteristic within the plurality of blood vessels of the patient based on the modified three-dimensional geometrical model reflecting the occlusion, and/or the modified patient-specific model of blood flow reflecting the occlusion;
• predicting an effect on the patient of the occlusion based on the second value of the blood flow characteristic;
• and
• outputting one or more of the first or second values of the blood flow characteristic, the modified three-dimensional geometrical model, the modified patient-specific model of blood flow, or the predicted effects, to an electronic storage medium or display.

A non-transitory computer readable medium for use on at least one computer system containing computer-executable programming instructions for performing a method for enabling the assessment of one or more blood vessels of a patient, based on calculated values of a blood flow characteristic, the method comprising:

• receiving patient-specific imaging data of a geometry of a plurality of blood vessels interconnected to form a vessel tree of the patient;
• determining, using a processor, a three-dimensional geometrical model of the plurality of blood vessels interconnected to form the vessel tree of the patient, based on the received patient-specific imaging data, the three-dimensional geometrical model comprising a model, in three dimensions, of a geometry of the plurality of blood vessels;
• determining, using the processor, a patient-specific model of blood flow through the plurality of blood vessels interconnected to form the vessel tree of the patient, based on the received patient-specific imaging data, the patient-specific model of blood flow comprising a model of the flow of blood through the plurality of blood vessels;
• determining a first value of the blood flow characteristic within the plurality of blood vessels of the patient based on the three-dimensional geometrical model or the patient-specific model of blood flow through the plurality of blood vessels of the patient;
• upon receiving a selection, from a user input received from a user or health care provider, of a blood vessel of the plurality of blood vessels interconnected to form the vessel tree, enabling a modification of one or both of the patient-specific model of blood flow and a geometry of the three-dimensional geometrical model to simulate an occlusion that prevents blood flow through the blood vessel of the plurality of blood vessels interconnected to form the vessel tree;
• modifying the patient-specific model of blood flow to prevent blood flow through the blood vessel of the plurality of blood vessels to simulate the occlusion of the blood vessel of the plurality of blood vessels interconnected to form the vessel tree;
• predicting a change in blood flow, based on the occlusion, in vessels of the vessel tree different from the blood vessel having the occlusion, based on the modified patient-specific model of blood flow and/or the modified three-dimensional geometrical model;
• determining a second value of the blood flow characteristic within the plurality of blood vessels of the patient based on the modified three-dimensional geometrical model reflecting the occlusion, and/or the modified patient-specific model of blood flow reflecting the occlusion;
• predicting an effect on the patient of the occlusion based on the second value of the blood flow characteristic;
• and
• outputting one or more of the first or second values of the blood flow characteristic, the modified three-dimensional geometrical model, the modified patient-specific model of blood flow, or the predicted effects, to an electronic storage medium or display.