Simulation of the biomechanics of the heart in a high performance computing environment

Abnormalities of biomechanical properties of the heart are common in hypertension and heart failure conditions. Traditionally the functions of the heart are evaluated by its mechanical contraction efficiency (EF), i.e., the ejection fraction. However, recent clinical studies have shown that EF may not be an effective biomarker for diagnosing impaired hearts due to hypertrophied heart (e.g., increased wall thickness) that provides a compensatory response of the myocardium to normalize wall stresses. Therefore, heart diseases with apparent biomechanical abnormalities may not be effectively reflected by a reduced EF. The main objectives of this project are to perform advanced computer simulations of the human heart, from which the biophysical relationship between myocardial stress, strain and energetics in hypertensive cardiac disease conditions will be determined. Simulation data will be compared to and validated against detailed analysis of the contractile parameters of clinical imaging data. The student will learn not only how to develop and implement computer models of the heart with electrical-mechanical coupling, but also develop programming skills in high performance scientific computing and visualization environments, and interpret and analyse clinical imaging data. Specifically we envisage using a combination of OpenFOAM and ParaFEM for fluid and structural analysis respectively. This work contributes to a global effort in developing a biophysically detailed computer model of the heart.