Functionalized Anatomical Models for Computational Life Sciences

Abstract

The advent of detailed computational anatomical models has opened new avenues for computational life sciences (CLS). To date, static models representing the anatomical environment have been used in many applications but are insufficient when the dynamics of the body prevents separation of anatomical geometrical variability from physics and physiology. Obvious examples include the assessment of thermal risks in magnetic resonance imaging and planning for radiofrequency and acoustic cancer treatment, where posture and physiology-related changes in shape (e.g., breathing) or tissue behavior (e.g., thermoregulation) affect the impact. Advanced functionalized anatomical models can overcome these limitations and dramatically broaden the applicability of CLS in basic research, the development of novel devices/therapies, and the assessment of their safety and efficacy. Various forms of functionalization are discussed in this paper: (i) shape parametrization (e.g., heartbeat, population variability), (ii) physical property distributions (e.g., image-based inhomogeneity), (iii) physiological dynamics (e.g., tissue and organ behavior), and (iv) integration of simulation/measurement data (e.g., exposure conditions, “validation evidence” supporting model tuning and validation). Although current model functionalization may only represent a small part of the physiology, it already facilitates the next level of realism by (i) driving consistency among anatomy and different functionalization layers and highlighting dependencies, (ii) enabling third-party use of validated functionalization layers as established simulation tools, and (iii) therefore facilitating their application as building blocks in network or multi-scale computational models. Integration in functionalized anatomical models thus leverages and potentiates the value of sub-models and simulation/measurement data toward ever-increasing simulation realism. In our o2S2PARC platform, we propose to expand the concept of functionalized anatomical models to establish an integration and sharing service for heterogeneous computational models, ranging from the molecular to the organ level. The objective of o2S2PARC is to integrate all models developed within the National Institutes of Health SPARC initiative in a unified anatomical and computational environment, to study the role of the peripheral nervous system in controlling organ physiology. The functionalization concept, as outlined for the o2S2PARC platform, could form the basis for many other application areas of CLS. The relationship to other ongoing initiatives, such as the Physiome Project, is also presented.

Advances in Computational Human Phantoms and Their Applications in Biomedical Engineering—A Topical Review

“…This includes, e.g., functionalization with nerve trajectories that have been enhanced with dynamic electrophysiological behavior [84], with breathing/heart-beat motion models, with vascular blood flow, or with thermoregulation models. Incorporating dynamics and physiology models in CHPs will broaden their application and facilitate sharing, compatibility, and interoperability of such physiology models, as well as their use in multiphysics modeling [208]. Recent developments use CHPs in multi-scale simulations to estimate the radiobiological effect of clinical ionizing radiotherapy.…”

Predicting in vivo MRI Gradient-Field Induced Voltage Levels on Implanted Deep Brain Stimulation Systems Using Neural Networks

“…Local head gradient coils have the potential to reduce E-fields in the body/torso and to elicit peripheral nerve stimulation (PNS) threshold for in vivo human imaging (Chronik and Rutt, 2001;Zhang et al, 2003;Tan et al, 2019). Advancements in functionalized anatomical models with nerve trajectories Neufeld et al, 2018) coupled with EM and neurodynamic simulations (Davids et al, 2017(Davids et al, , 2019 have the potential for designing high-performance MRI gradient coils. If higher performance gradient coils and/or local head gradient coils become available in the clinic, such designs need to be incorporated into the MRI gradient-field induced voltage analysis workflow for accurately evaluating the safety of implanted DBS systems.…”

Advanced Sectioned Images of a Cadaver Head with Voxel Size of 0.04 mm

“…Fourth, the 3D models can be used for virtual experiments on the effects of electromagnetic waves and radiation, similar to sectioned images 313233…”