Back The Spanish Research Network for Cardiac Computational Modelling kicks off

The Spanish Research Network for Cardiac Computational Modelling kicks off

Driven by the Polytechnic University of Valencia and the members of the consortium of the project, with the participation of the PhySense group of MedTech, together with eight universities and other research centers, the V-Heart SN network seeks to facilitate the use of virtual hearts - computational models - in the daily clinical practice. This will allow the design of personalized therapies more efficient and safer.

18.12.2017

 

V-Heart SN is promoted by the Polytechnic University of Valencia and its consortium in which participates Oscar Camara, researcher of the PhySense research group, BCN MedTech Center of the Department of Information Technology and Communications (DTIC) of the UPF, together with eight universities and research centers more have carried out the Spanish Research Network for Cardiac Computational Modelling ("Red Española de Investigación en Modelización Computacional Cardiaca", in Spanish) under the acronym V-Heart SN. This network is intended to make the use of virtual hearts easier by employing computational models in daily clinical practice, which will allow doctors to design personalized and more effective and safer therapies. 

Regarding the participation of the UPF research centers on the V-Heart SN network, as Oscar Camara indicates: "We will contribute in different stages of the work of computational cardiac modeling, including the processing of clinical data for the construction of personalized geometric models for the patient and the translation of multiphysics computational models (electrophysiology, mechanics, hemodynamics) in cardiovascular applications such as the optimization of devices for cardiac resynchronization therapy, radiofrequency ablation in patients with arrhythmias (atrial fibrillation, ventricular tachycardia), the study of blood circulation in pregnancies with intrauterine fetal restriction and the virtual analysis of hemodynamics of the left atrial appendage to estimate the risk of thrombus formation that potentially degenerate into stroke”.

Therefore, the network brings together expert researchers simulating the functioning of the heart from different points of view: electrophysiological and biomechanical, as well as those of major experts in numerical methods and high performance computation.

“V-Heart SN is the first Spanish network in this field. We aim to improve the computational models in the cardiac field and ultimately improve the clinical practice with this research work. To do this, we are working on the development of a virtual heart able to be adapted to the characteristics of each patient and to be used for both medical professionals and med-tech companies," say the promoters of this network, the first with these characteristics in Spain.

The development of this computational model of the heart will give a better understanding of the mechanisms that generate and maintain the cardiac arrhythmias. It will allow doctors to optimize the application of therapies (cardiac resynchronization, defibrillation, pacemakers, etc.,) and to predict the effectiveness of drugs and their cardiotoxicity. “We will contribute to the use of computational modelling in the daily clinical practice thanks to the development of tools adapted to the final user—the medical professional,” add the researchers of V-Heart SN.

The network will work on searching for new computational solutions for the challenges of clinical research in the cardiovascular field, and aims to become a national and international reference point in the area of cardiac modelling, and to strengthen the position of the Spanish science in this field.

Multimedia

Categories:

SDG - Sustainable Development Goals:

Els ODS a la UPF

Contact