Philips’ ‘euHeart’ Project to Simulate Heart Behavior

August 25, 2008 - Philips will lead a new European Union (EU) funded research project called "euHeart," which uses computer models of the heart as simulation tools for doctors to predict outcomes.

The euHeart consortium aims to develop advanced computer models of the human heart that can be personalized to patient-specific conditions using clinical data from various sources, such as CT (Computed Tomography) and MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) scans, measurements of blood flow and blood pressure in the coronary arteries (which feed the heart muscles) and ECGs (Electrocardiograms).

These computer models will integrate the behavior of the heart and the aorta at molecular, cellular, tissue and organ-level. They will also incorporate clinical knowledge about how cardiovascular disease disturbs the correct functioning of the heart at these levels. As a result, it may be possible to develop simulation tools that doctors can use to predict the outcome of different types of therapy, and because the models will be personalized to individual patients, the therapy could be equally personalized.

As an example, one way of treating heart rhythm disorders is a minimally invasive procedure known as radiofrequency ablation. During this procedure, a catheter is inserted into the patient's heart and the tissue responsible for propagating abnormal electrical signals through the heart muscle is destroyed using heat from a radio-frequency field generated at the tip of the catheter. At the moment, doctors have to rely on their experience to decide which areas of tissue to destroy - a task that is complicated by the fact that the electrical activity in every patient's heart is subtly different. With the aid of a computerized model that reflects the patient's unique heart structure and function, doctors may be able to test the results of destroying different areas of tissue before they have to operate on the patient.

For more information: www.medical.philips.com

Related Content

Chief among the myriad practical updates to minimize risks for patients and imaging personnel alike is a tiered approach for delaying both outpatient and inpatient cross-sectional interventional procedures

For procedural delays that will not adversely affect patient outcome, Fananapazir and colleagues proposed the following tiered approach for both outpatient and inpatient scenarios: urgent procedures, procedures that should be performed within 2 weeks, procedures that should be performed within 2 months, and procedures that can safely be delayed 2 or 6 months. Courtesy of American Journal of Roentgenology (AJR)

News | Coronavirus (COVID-19) | June 05, 2020

Interventional Radiologists Modify Protocol for Coronavirus Disease

June 5, 2020 — An...

According to a recent report by Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers, artificial intelligence (AI) should be used to expand the role of chest X-ray imaging — using computed tomography, or CT — in diagnosing and assessing coronavirus infection so that it can be more than just a means of screening for signs of COVID-19 in a patient's lungs.

Getty images

News | Coronavirus (COVID-19) | June 04, 2020

AI Can Improve How Chest Images Are Used in Care of COVID-19 Patients

June 4, 2020 — According to a recent repo...

Largest case series (n=30) to date yields high frequency (77%) of negative chest CT findings among pediatric patients (10 months-18 years) with COVID-19, while also suggesting common findings in subset of children with positive CT findings

A and B, Unenhanced chest CT scans show minimal GGOs (right lower and left upper lobes) (arrows) and no consolidation. Only two lobes were affected, and CT findings were assigned CT severity score of 2. Image courtesy of American Journal of Roentgenology (AJR)

News | Coronavirus (COVID-19) | May 29, 2020

CT Findings of Coronavirus in Children Often Negative

May 29, 2020 — An investigation published open-access in the ...

Extends access of AI software that supports chest imaging, including CT and X-ray, to U.S. radiologists at over 7,000 healthcare facilities

News | Coronavirus (COVID-19) | May 21, 2020

RADLogics’ AI-Powered Applications Supporting the Evaluation of COVID-19 Patients are Now Available on Nuance AI Marketplace

May 21, 2020 — ...

Examples of chest CT images of COVID-19 (+) patients and visualization of features correlated to COVID-19 positivity. For each pair of images, the left image is a CT image showing the segmented lung used as input for the CNN (convolutional neural network algorithm) model trained on CT images only, and the right image shows the heatmap of pixels that the CNN model classified as having SARS-CoV-2 infection (red indicates higher probability). (a) A 51-year-old female with fever and history of exposure to SARS-

Figure 1: Examples of chest CT images of COVID-19 (+) patients and visualization of features correlated to COVID-19 positivity. For each pair of images, the left image is a CT image showing the segmented lung used as input for the CNN (convolutional neural network algorithm) model trained on CT images only, and the right image shows the heatmap of pixels that the CNN model classified as having SARS-CoV-2 infection (red indicates higher probability). (a) A 51-year-old female with fever and history of exposure to SARS-CoV-2. The CNN model identified abnormal features in the right lower lobe (white color), whereas the two radiologists labeled this CT as negative. (b) A 52-year-old female who had a history of exposure to SARS-CoV-2 and presented with fever and productive cough. Bilateral peripheral ground-glass opacities (arrows) were labeled by the radiologists, and the CNN model predicted positivity based on features in matching areas. (c) A 72-year-old female with exposure history to the animal market in Wuhan presented with fever and productive cough. The segmented CT image shows ground-glass opacity in the anterior aspect of the right lung (arrow), whereas the CNN model labeled this CT as negative. (d) A 59-year-old female with cough and exposure history. The segmented CT image shows no evidence of pneumonia, and the CNN model also labeled this CT as negative.

News | Coronavirus (COVID-19) | May 19, 2020

Mount Sinai First in U.S. to Use AI to Analyze Coronavirus Patients

May 19, 2020 — Mount Sinai researchers are the first in the country to use...

Advanced imaging data exchange is now live in Colorado due to the partnership of Health Images and the Colorado Regional Health Information Organization

Getty Images

News | Radiology Business | May 18, 2020

Colorado Providers Now Have Access to Medical Images via HIE

May 18, 2020 —

Radiologists from Shanghai discuss modifying exam process and disinfecting exam room, while outlining personal protection measures during the coronavirus disease outbreak

(HIS = hospital information system, RIS = radiology information system) Image courtesy of American Journal of Roentgenology (AJR)

News | Coronavirus (COVID-19) | May 18, 2020

COVID-19 Infection Control, Radiographer Protection in CT Exam Areas

May 18, 2020 — In an open-access article published ahead-of-print

Now a research team — led by Tohoku University Professor, Wataru Yashiro — has developed a new method using intense synchrotron radiation that produces higher quality images within milliseconds.

How the bent crystal changes the direction of the X-rays. Image courtesy of Tohoku University

News | Computed Tomography (CT) | May 15, 2020

Unlocking the Gate to the Millisecond CT

May 15, 2020 — Many will undergo a computed tomogr...

In today’s challenging healthcare environment, radiology departments are often faced with the difficult decision of how to safely image patients who are suspected of being positive with infectious disease. To help hospitals and institutions effectively utilize computed tomography (CT) with these conditions, Canon Medical Systems USA, Inc. introduces a deployable CT with a rapid decontamination solution.

News | Computed Tomography (CT) | May 11, 2020

Canon Medical Launches CT Solution for Patients with Viral Infectious Diseases

May 11, 2020 — In today’s challenging healthcare environment, radiology departments are often faced with the difficul

Axial (A) and coronal (B) CT of the abdomen and pelvis with IV contrast in a 57-year-old man with a high clinical suspicion for bowel ischemia. There was generalized small bowel distension and segmental thickening (arrows), with adjacent mesenteric congestion (thin arrow in B), and a small volume of ascites (* in B). Findings are nonspecific but suggestive of early ischemia or infection.

Axial (A) and coronal (B) CT of the abdomen and pelvis with IV contrast in a 57-year-old man with a high clinical suspicion for bowel ischemia. There was generalized small bowel distension and segmental thickening (arrows), with adjacent mesenteric congestion (thin arrow in B), and a small volume of ascites (* in B). Findings are nonspecific but suggestive of early ischemia or infection. Image courtesy of RSNA

News | Coronavirus (COVID-19) | May 11, 2020

Imaging Reveals Bowel Abnormalities in Patients with COVID-19

May 11, 2020 — Patients with COVID-19 can have b