A personalized model of the heart
Mathematician Cristóbal Bertoglio creates personalized computer models of the human heart. With his team, he is working on mathematical methods that can infer the information he needs from MRI scans. Bertolio: ‘Such a personalized heart model can help with the early detection of cardiac damage, for instance, or show the consequences of congenital heart disease.’
Bertoglio shows a plastic model of the heart: ‘Look, some people with congenital heart problems have a hole here, between the two heart chambers. Or they may have an obstruction somewhere. This affects how fast the blood flows, and at what pressure.’ Ultimately, the researchers want to obtain a computer model for a specific patient that simulates their individual blood flow.
To create such a personalized model, you first start with a generic model of the heart, Bertoglio explains. In essence, this consists of a set of mathematical equations that describe the blood flow. Next, MRI scans provide information about a specific patient. ‘The challenge is to infer from these MRI images which underlying cardiac deformation causes the observed blood flow,’ Bertoglio explains. With his team, he is working on the mathematical techniques needed to make this step.
‘You can compare it to weather models,’ Bertoglio says. ‘The weather service makes a certain forecast for the weather on 11 May in Groningen, and at the same time they measure what the actual weather is on that date. With this information, they can improve their weather models.’ In the case of heart models, a generic heart model predicts how the blood flow will look on an MRI scan. By comparing this with the measured data, the computer model can be adapted to a specific patient. Bertoglio: ‘We’re currently testing our methods with data collected with our partners at the University Medical Center Groningen, and the results look promising.’
Text: FSE Science Newsroom | Charlotte Vlek
Photos: Reyer Boxem
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