31.03.

2015

HighlyRealisticHumanHeartSimulationsTransformingMedicalCare

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HighlyRealisticHumanHeartSimulationsTransforming
MedicalCare
Thu,03/26/20155:03pm
bySuzanneTracy,EditorinChief,ScientificComputingandHPCSource

GetthelatestnewsinHighPerformanceComputing,Informatics,DataAnalysisSoftwareand
moreSignupnow!
TheWorldHealthOrganization(WHO)reports
thatcardiovasculardiseasesarethenumberone
causeofdeathgloballymorepeopledieannually
fromcardiovasculardiseasethanfromanyother
cause.Workingtoaddressthisimperativepublic
healthproblem,researchersworldwideare
seekingnewwaystoaccelerateresearch,raise
theaccuracyofdiagnosesandimprovepatient
outcomes.Severalinitiativeshaveutilized
groundbreakingnewsimulationstoadvance
researchintoaspectssuchasrhythm
disturbancesandtheelectricalandmechanical
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TheLivingHeartProjectsgoalistoenablecreationofa
customized3Dheart.

behavioroftheheart.

Computationalmodelingandsimulationhasthepotentialtorevolutionizethemedicaldeviceand
healthcarefieldsbyacceleratinginnovationandprovidingcomprehensiveevidenceoflongterm
safety,saidBillMurray,PresidentandCEOoftheMedicalDeviceInnovationConsortium.Itholds
thepromiseofgoingbeyondempiricaltestingthroughhumanclinicaltrialstoevaluatingthe
interactionofdeviceswiththehumanbodythatisnotobtainableinanyotherway.
Thebiggesthopeisthatcomputationalmodelingcouldshortenthetimebetweenaproposed
healthsolutionandwhenitbecomesavailabletopeoplewhoareactuallysick.
ENTRIESOPEN:Establishyourcompanyasatechnologyleader.For50years,theR&D100
Awards,widelyrecognizedastheOscarsofInvention,haveshowcasedproductsof
technologicalsignificance.Learnmore.
The3DLivingHeartProject
Thesame3Dimagingsoftwarethathelpstodesigncarsandairplanesandtotestprocessor
designsisalsohelpingcardiologists,biomechanicalspecialistsandtechnologyprofessionalsto
diagnose,preventandtreatheartdiseasethroughaninterdisciplinarytranslationalresearch
initiativeledbyDassaultSystemes.
TheLivingHeartProjectisacollaborationamongmorethan50medicalresearchers,practitioners,
devicemanufacturersandindustryregulators.Theprojectsgoalistoenablecreationofa
customized3DheartbasedonanypatientsCTorMRIscan,andthentouseanimation
technologytobringthat3Dversiontolife.Researchersareusingbigdatatocreatearealistic
simulationmodelofawholehumanheartthatcapturestheelectricalandmechanicalbehaviorof
theheartandcanbepersonalizedforindividualpatients,enablingacardiologisttosimulatehowa
patientmightrespondtoawiderangeofinterventions.
Usingatechnologycrowdsourcingmodelthatprotectstheintellectualpropertyofeachmember,
yetenablesalltosharetheoutcome,theLivingHeartProjectisbeingdevelopedcloselywith
leadingcardiologists,medicaldevicecompaniesandacademicresearcherswhoparticipateinthe
evaluationofthesimulatedheartmodelsuseinmedicaldevicedesign,testing,clinicaldiagnosis,
guidingpresurgicalplanningeducationandtraining,andregulatoryscience.
Asakeystepofthisinitiative,DassaultSystmeshassignedafiveyearcollaborativeresearch
agreementwiththeU.S.FoodandDrugAdministration(FDA)whichwillinitiallytargetthe
developmentoftestingparadigmsfortheinsertion,placementandperformanceofpacemaker
leadsandothercardiovasculardevicesusedtotreatheartdisease.
Thefutureofhealthcarewillnodoubtincludetheuseofmodelingandsimulationtoguideour
choiceoftreatments,trainourdoctorsandeveneducatepatientsontheirroleinmanagingtheir
health,saidDr.KumaranKolandaivelu,InstructorofMedicineatHarvardMedicalSchooland
MedicalDirector,ClinicalResearchCenter,MassachusettsInstituteofTechnology.Asphysicians,
wehaveamoralimperativetousethebestscienceavailabletoensurethehighestqualitycare
withminimalinvasivenessandattheleastpossiblecost.WeareworkingwithDassaultSystmes,
becauseIbelievethetimeisrighttoembracethefullpotentialofcomputationalsciencein
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medicineasithasinotherdisciplines.
CardioidCardiacModelingProject:SimulatingaBeatingHumanHeart
AttheHighPerformanceComputingInnovationCenteratLawrenceLivermoreNationalLaboratory
(LLNL),anewtypeofsimulationhasbeendevelopedtorealisticallymimicabeatinghumanheart.
ThesimulationsweremadepossiblebyahighlyscalablecodecalledCardioidthatreplicatesthe
electrophysiologyofthehumanheart.DevelopedbyLLNLscientistsworkingwithcolleaguesatthe
IBMT.J.WatsonResearchCenterinNewYork,thecodeaccuratelysimulatestheactivationof
eachheartmusclecellandthecelltocellelectriccoupling.
Oneveryheartbeat,electricsignalsnormallytraversetheentireheartinanorderlymanner,
resultinginacoordinatedcontractionthatefficientlypumpsbloodthroughoutthebody.However,
thesesignalscanbecomedisorganizedandcauseanarrhythmia,adysfunctionalmechanical
responsethatdisruptstheheartspumpingprocessandcanreducebloodflowthroughoutthe
body.Withoutmedicalintervention,aseriousarrhythmiacanleadtosuddendeathandaccounts
forabout325,000deathseveryyearintheU.S.
ThegroundbreakingheartsimulationsweredevelopedandperformedonLawrenceLivermores
Sequoiasupercomputer,aBlueGene/Qsystemdesignedtoachieve20quintillionfloatingpoint
operationspersecond(20petaflops).Themachine,whichwasbuiltbyIBM,has98,304nodes,
eachwith16centralprocessingunits,orcores.Whenthefullsystemisinoperation,morethan
1.5millioncoresareavailabletoexecutecalculationsinparallel.Cardioidassignsroughly3,800
heartcellstoanode,foratotalofabout370millioncells.Thecodeishighlyscalable,meaningit
iswrittensothatitsperformanceincreasesinproportiontothenumberofcoresappliedtoa
problem.
DiagnosingDeadlyHeartRhythmDisease
Inaworldfirst,doctorsattheVictorChangCardiacResearchInstitute(VCCRI)inDarlinghurst,
Australia,usedcomputergamingtechnologytohelpbetterdiagnosepatientssufferingfroma
heartrhythmdisease.Thislifethreatening,electricaldisorderkills12percentofAustraliansby
stoppingtheheartfrompumpingbloodeffectivelycausingsuddendeath.
Traditionallyusedtorendercomplexgraphicsincomputergames,graphicsprocessorunits
(GPUs)arealsousedtoacceleratescientificcomputingbymultitaskingonhundredsofcomputing
cores.
Researchersbuiltavirtualheartandsimulatedhundredsofthousandsofheartbeats.Scientists
thenscreenedallofthoseheartbeatssearchingforabnormalities.Dr.AdamHill,aComputational
CardiologistattheVCCRI,andaseniorauthoronthestudy,saysthefindingstakeusastepcloser
tounderstandingrhythmdisturbancesintheheart.
Thisresearchishugelyexciting!WewereabletoidentifywhysomepatientshaveabnormalECG
signals,andhowapersonsgeneticbackgroundcanaffecttheseverityoftheirdisease,Hillsaid.
Analysisonthisscalehasneverbeenpossiblebefore.Thesimulationtookjust10days,thanksto
theCSIROsmultimilliondollarBraggsupercomputer,thatsbeenrankedintheworldstop10
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mostefficientcomputers.ThesupercomputercombinestraditionalCPUswiththemorepowerful,
graphicsprocessingunits(GPUs).Bycomparison,ifyouweretouseastandarddesktopPC,it
wouldtake21yearstogetthesamejobdone.
WehopethiswillhelpdoctorsreadECGsmoreaccurately,whichwillmeanfaster,moreaccurate
diagnosis.Byunderstandingwhythesamediseaseaffectspeopledifferently,therighttreatment
canbegiventotherightpatients,headded.
ScientistsattheVictorChangInstitutearenowusingthesediscoveriestodevelopautomatic
computerizedtoolsfordiagnosingheartrhythmdisorders.
Conclusion
Inthebattleagainstcardiovasculardiseases,thestakesremainhigh.Weneedbettertoolsand
bettertherapiestohaveagreatereffectonpreventingheartdisease.StephenNicholls,MBBS,
Ph.D.,clinicaldirectorofTheClevelandClinicCenterforCardiovascularDiagnosticsand
Preventionstates.
Asmedicalresearchers,practitioners,devicemanufacturersandindustryregulatorsstrivetofind
newwaystounderstandandtreatthisseriouspublichealththreat,groundbreakingsimulations
areshowingextraordinarypotentialtohelprapidlyadvanceresearchandrevolutionizepatient
outcomesforischemicheartdisease,stroke,congestiveheartfailureandawidearrayofother
cardiovasculardisorders.

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