US 8,682,626 B2 · Method and system for comprehensive patient-specific modeling of the heart

Abstract

A method and system for patient-specific modeling of the whole heart anatomy, dynamics, hemodynamics, and fluid structure interaction from 4D medical image data is disclosed. The anatomy and dynamics of the heart are determined by estimating patient-specific parameters of a physiological model of the heart from the 4D medical image data for a patient. The patient-specific anatomy and dynamics are used as input to a 3D Navier-Stokes solver that derives realistic hemodynamics, constrained by the local anatomy, along the entire heart cycle. Fluid structure interactions are determined iteratively over the heart cycle by simulating the blood flow at a given time step and calculating the deformation of the heart structure based on the simulated blood flow, such that the deformation of the heart structure is used in the simulation of the blood flow at the next time step. The comprehensive patient-specific model of the heart representing anatomy, dynamics, hemodynamics, and fluid structure interaction can be used for non-invasive assessment and diagnosis of the heart, as well as virtual therapy planning and cardiovascular disease management. Parameters of the comprehensive patient-specific model are changed or perturbed to simulate various conditions or treatment options, and then the patient specific model is recalculated to predict the effect of the conditions or treatment options.

Claims50

Dependent claims

A method for simulating blood flow in the heart based on 4D medical image data, comprising:

generating a patient-specific 4D anatomical model of the heart from the 4D medical imaging data;
and
simulating blood flow in the heart by solving Navier-Stokes equations constrained by the patient-specific 4D anatomical model at each of a plurality of time steps in a heart cycle using a level set framework, wherein the simulating blood flow in the heart comprises:
imposing no-slip boundary conditions to a fluid region of the anatomical model based on a location of a zero level of a level set function used to embed the patient-specific 4D anatomical model in a computational domain.

1 more element

An apparatus for simulating blood flow in the heart based on 4D medical image data, comprising:

means for generating a patient-specific 4D anatomical model of the heart from the 4D medical imaging data;
and
means for simulating blood flow in the heart by solving Navier-Stokes equations constrained by the patient-specific 4D anatomical model at each of a plurality of time steps in a heart cycle using a level set framework, wherein the means for simulating blood flow comprises:
means for imposing no-slip boundary conditions to a fluid region of the anatomical model based on a location of a zero level of a level set function used to embed the patient-specific 4D anatomical model in a computational domain.

1 more element

An apparatus for comprehensive patient-specific modeling of the heart based on 4D medical image data, comprising:

means for generating a patient-specific 4D anatomical model of the heart from the 4D medical imaging data;
means for simulating blood flow in at least one heart component of the patient-specific 4D anatomical model at a current time step by solving Navier-Stokes equations constrained by the location of the at least one heart component at the current time step using a level set framework, wherein the current location of the at least one heart component at the current time step is determined at least in part based on a deformation of the at least one heart component calculated at a previous time step;
and
means for calculating a deformation of the at least one heart component at the current time step based on the simulated blood flow at the current time step.

1 more element

A non-transitory computer readable medium encoded with computer executable instructions for simulating blood flow in the heart based on 4D medical image data, the computer executable instructions defining steps comprising:

generating a patient-specific 4D anatomical model of the heart from the 4D medical imaging data;
and
simulating blood flow in the heart by solving Navier-Stokes equations constrained by the patient-specific 4D anatomical model at each of a plurality of time steps in a heart cycle using a level set framework, wherein the simulating blood flow comprises:
imposing no-slip boundary conditions to a fluid region of the anatomical model based on a location of a zero level of a level set function used to embed the patient-specific 4D anatomical model in a computational domain.

1 more element

A non-transitory computer readable medium encoded with computer executable instructions for comprehensive patient-specific modeling of the heart based on 4D medical image data, the computer executable instructions defining steps comprising:

generating a patient-specific 4D anatomical model of the heart from the 4D medical imaging data;
simulating blood flow in at least one heart component of the patient-specific 4D anatomical model at a current time step by solving Navier-Stokes equations constrained by the location of the at least one heart component at the current time step using a level set framework;
calculating a deformation of the at least one heart component at the current time step based on the simulated blood flow at the current time step;
and
repeating the simulating and calculating steps for a plurality of time steps, wherein the current location of the at least one heart component at the current time step is determined at least in part based on the deformation of the at least one heart component calculated at a previous time step.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Method and system for comprehensive patient-specific modeling of the heart

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Method and system for comprehensive patient-specific modeling of the heart

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims50