An aerospace engineer at U-C-S-D has come up with a set of computer modeling tools designed to help pediatric heart surgeons. KPBS Reporter Kenny Goldberg explains.
Computer simulations are widely used in the aerospace industry. The idea is to use the same kind of design and analysis tools with surgeries.
UCSD engineer Alison Marsden says it starts with getting MRI image data from the patient. She then builds a three-D model of the patient's anatomy. Next, Marsden runs a simulation of their blood flow, and throws in some variables.
Alison Marsden: For example, let's change the way this connection is done, and see what happens to the blood flow in that case. So in that sense we can optimize a surgery for a particular patient.
Pediatric heart surgeons at Stanford say they'll test the simulations later this year.
Kenny Goldberg, KPBS News.
