3D models, supercomputers shed new light on how heart shape can affect function
Researchers have used statistical shape analysis to study how changes in the human heart’s anatomy can affect its ability to function, sharing their findings in PLOS Computational Biology.
The group used imaging data to build a variety of 3D heart models in different shapes and sizes. They then made one modification after another, running advanced computer simulations track any changes. Supercomputers running more than 200,000 hours of computations were brought in to handle the team’s in-depth analysis.
“Even in healthy people, everyone has a slightly different heart shape,” lead author Cristobal Rodero, of the biomedical engineering department at King’s College London in the U.K., said in a statement. “Knowing these differences and how they affect cardiac function is a task for which computer simulations are an ideal tool.”
The research team behind the study, which also includes specialists out of Austria and France, see this work as the beginning of something bigger: a new way to assess cardiovascular disease and predict when patients may need immediate care.
“This research could be used as an early diagnosis later down the track,” Rodero said. “For instance, we found that there is an area in the heart right before the aorta that when it gets thicker, it has a big impact in the predicted function.”
Click here to read the full study in PLOS Computational Biology.
Michael has more than 18 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.