荔枝视频

A made-in-荔枝视频 4D heart model is transforming treatment for heart failure patients having a specialized pacemaker inserted, called cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT). In a national clinical trial, published in , , MD, and his team found a clear benefit to using the model to target treatment. 

Developed at the 荔枝视频, the heart model uses cardiac MRI images to generate a patient-specific replica, or digital twin, of a patient鈥檚 heart. 

These personalized 鈥渂eating heart鈥� models can be used to guide the placement of the specialized pacemaker (CRT), which aims to improve heart function in patients with heart failure by better co-ordinating how the heart walls squeeze together.

Personalizing heart therapies using digital hearts represents a significant step forward, says White, a professor at the and director of the and the .

鈥淲hile digital heart models have been used to perform computer simulations of how pacemakers can improve heart function, this trial was designed to test if this type of technology can be used in real patients to improve outcomes,鈥� says White.

Heart failure is a chronic condition in which the heart cannot pump enough blood to meet the body鈥檚 needs. CRT can be life changing for patients with advanced heart disease and weakened heart function, but up to one-third do not respond to the conventional CRT approach. The results of the trial, called MAPIT-CRT, showed patients who underwent CRT guided by the virtual patient model experienced a 10.8-per cent increase in heart function versus 5.8 per cent in patients who received standard care.

Findings from a national trial

The trial enrolled 202 patients across seven Canadian centres. It evaluated patients six months following the CRT procedure and found: 

• 66 per cent of patients who received model-guided therapy improved, compared to 52 per cent in the standard treatment group.
• Patients saw nearly double the improvement in left ventricular ejection fraction, a key measure of heart-pumping ability.
• There was no increase in procedure time, complications or recovery risks.

鈥淭his new type of digital technology holds strong potential for guiding the treatment of heart failure, even beyond guiding pacemaker therapy,鈥� says White, senior author of the study. 鈥淥ur ability to generate accurate 4D digital representations of each patient鈥檚 heart now allows us to explore new ways to detect disease and accurately predict future outcomes.鈥�

Adds MAPIT-CRT study lead author , MD: 鈥淭his is a powerful example of how advanced imaging, computational modelling and clinical cardiology can come together to improve patient care."

The technology is also designed with implementation in mind.

鈥淧revious approaches required complex software and integrations to implement, so we focused on making an easy-to-adopt solution,鈥� says White. 鈥淐omplex problems can now be solved using easy-to-use web-based platforms, allowing innovation to scale much faster.鈥�

This study was funded by the .