Cardiovascular disease is the number one killer in the United States, for both men and women, and claims more lives each year than the next five leading causes of death combined. The Cardiovascular Dynamics effort, led by Charles A. Taylor, Ph.D. and Christopher K. Zarins, M.D., uses biosimulation to understand and help diagnose and treat this prevalent condition.
Our Physics-Based Approach
Our open source Cardiovascular ToolKit (CVTK) provides tools for constructing a virtual aorta, a cardiovascular simulation based on 3D noninvasive imaging and tailored to each individual's anatomy. The process is outlined in the diagram below: (a) acquire a contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance angiogram of the abdominal aorta; (b) determine the centerline of the vessels of interest; (c) segment vessel lumens in each 2D slice using level set methods; (d) combine the 2D segmentations into a complete 3D solid model of the aorta and its branches; (e) use the generated finite element mesh to solve equations governing blood flow in the deformable vessels.
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