A Public Repository of Image-Based Computational Models for Patient-Specific Blood Flow Simulation

Over the past two decades, significant progress has been made on increasing the realism and fidelity of image-based patient-specific blood flow simulation. A clear example of this progress is the first-of-a-kind multi-center clinical trial under way by Heartflow, Inc. (Redwood City, CA) attempting to utilize blood flow simulation in clinical decision making for coronary arterial disease. While recent applications of patient-specific blood flow simulation are impressive, numerous opportunities still exist for its application in advanced research in disease progression, design of better medical devices, and additional clinical applications for patient-specific interventional planning. Three core challenges face researchers in this space. First, state-of-the art techniques for patient-specific anatomic model construction and hemodynamic simulation require specialized, complex software. In recent years, open-source initiatives such as SimVascular and VMTK have addressed this need. Second, the access to clinical data has traditionally been limited to those with strong ties to research hospitals. Finally, public data for verification and validation of computational models for blood flow has also been limited.