Personalised Digital Heart

The objective of the project is to consolidate the use of so-called «in silico» models related to the personalized multi-scale simulation of cardiac electrical activity in the optimization of the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cardiac arrhythmias.

The main objective of the project is to develop personalized multi-scale models of human heart and computational tools that help the clinician in making decisions regarding the optimal therapy to be applied in the treatment of cardiac arrhythmias. These tools will also help companies that develop medical equipment and drugs in the design and development of novel therapies.

The team requesting the project is an interdisciplinary team of researchers who lead groups with an experience of more than 25 years of remarkable international scientific relevance. The team, led by the Center for Research and Innovation in Bioengineering of the Polytechnic University of Valencia (Ci2B-UPV), combines relevant researchers in experimental areas, medical, simulation and signal analysis, which guarantees the feasibility of the project and the implementation ongoing innovative tools in a problem of high social impact.

The methodology that aims to improve, through personalization, is one of the priority objectives of the 2016-2017 work program of the Horizon 2020 (in silico trials in personalized medicine) in whose definition the IP of this project has collaborated as a guest expert through a «Coordination and Support Action» (contract number 6118119).

It is noteworthy that the technology that will be developed in the project has very high possibilities of transfer to companies that develop drugs or diagnostic devices and therapy, as evidenced by the interest shown by the project results of device companies such as: Philips, LivaNova (former Sorin group), General Electric, Biotechnology and health, Nuubo Smart Solutions, or pharmaceuticals such as Gilead.

The Ci2B-UPV has already gained an international prestige in the field of modeling and simulation of cardiac pathologies, as evidenced by its numerous international publications. It is an international reference in the simulation of cardiac ischemia, Heart Failure, atrial fibrillation and the effects of drugs, and has developed, in recent years, one of the most advanced 3D computational models of the human atrium (there are only 3 other models of the atrium) at this level, those led by Dr. Trayanova (Johns Hospkins University), Dr. Aslanidi (Kings College, London) and Dr. Dossel (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology).

3D model of atria, repository of the Polytechnic University of Valencia (RIUNET, http://hdl.handle.net/10251/55150)

3D model of ventricles

Torso model

New biomarker of proarrhythmic drug effects, repository of the Polytechnic University of Valencia (RIUNET,  http://hdl.handle.net/10251/90297).