In the Forum
Technology to Predict Heart Surgery Outcome
Volume: 23 (29/11/2006)
A new technology – “4D MRI” being co-developed by Georgia Tech and Emory University holds promise of easing the uncertainties surrounding outcomes of pediatric heart surgery. Currently being tested by pediatric cardiac surgeons at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, the technology constructs models of individual patients’ hearts to help the surgeons find the most effective surgical correction based on a dynamic physiology of a congenital lesion. The technology is known as image-based surgical planning; it creates a three-dimensional model of a child’s heart with data from the child’s MRI scans at different times in the cardiac cycle. This model is generally known as a 4D MRI. Inputs from pediatric cardiologists and
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pediatric surgeons at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and Emory University are being taken for developing the technology.
Currently in testing phase, the models make it easy for surgeons to visualize the direction of blood flow and determine if there is any energy loss in the heart. This also allows surgeons to determine how well blood would flow through the newly configured heart if they are planning a certain correction of an area of a child’s heart.
The project is aimed at developing a comprehensive system that will allow surgeons to get a detailed look at a child’s heart function with the new MRI system. With a better idea of the heart, surgeons should be able to design surgical procedures for optimum post-operative performance. A sophisticated blood flow computer simulation will also help them better evaluate the heart’s performance.
“While the program isn’t yet ready for use by surgeons outside the project, it could be available in about three to five years,” Dr. Ajit Yoganathan, a co-principal investigator on the project and Associate Chair of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University said.
The new system essentially helps surgeons determine how any geometric change in the existing configuration of the heart will change blood flow and strength. A combination of computational and experimental studies has been utilized by the researchers to create a perfect method of assessing an optimum vessel configuration. The researchers made extensive use of fluid dynamics in the lab to get the most accurate simulation of blood flow possible.
The system is compatible with another tool, developed by a separate team led by Dr. Jaroslaw Rossignac from Georgia Tech’s College of Computing. This tool is a computer program that lets surgeons to manipulate a 3-D model of a patient’s cardiovascular system to try out different configurations with a mouse.
Once satisfied with the configuration, the surgeons can then test the new vascular configuration with the Image-based surgical planning system to check out the performance of the new surgical procedure.
Details of the project were presented at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions meeting held in Chicago earlier this month.
Currently in testing phase, the models make it easy for surgeons to visualize the direction of blood flow and determine if there is any energy loss in the heart. This also allows surgeons to determine how well blood would flow through the newly configured heart if they are planning a certain correction of an area of a child’s heart.
The project is aimed at developing a comprehensive system that will allow surgeons to get a detailed look at a child’s heart function with the new MRI system. With a better idea of the heart, surgeons should be able to design surgical procedures for optimum post-operative performance. A sophisticated blood flow computer simulation will also help them better evaluate the heart’s performance.
“While the program isn’t yet ready for use by surgeons outside the project, it could be available in about three to five years,” Dr. Ajit Yoganathan, a co-principal investigator on the project and Associate Chair of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University said.
The new system essentially helps surgeons determine how any geometric change in the existing configuration of the heart will change blood flow and strength. A combination of computational and experimental studies has been utilized by the researchers to create a perfect method of assessing an optimum vessel configuration. The researchers made extensive use of fluid dynamics in the lab to get the most accurate simulation of blood flow possible.
The system is compatible with another tool, developed by a separate team led by Dr. Jaroslaw Rossignac from Georgia Tech’s College of Computing. This tool is a computer program that lets surgeons to manipulate a 3-D model of a patient’s cardiovascular system to try out different configurations with a mouse.
Once satisfied with the configuration, the surgeons can then test the new vascular configuration with the Image-based surgical planning system to check out the performance of the new surgical procedure.
Details of the project were presented at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions meeting held in Chicago earlier this month.
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