Using a computational tool that allows aerospace engineers to design aircraft, technologists at Indian software major Infosys have created a 3D model of the human heart.

The 3D heart model offers immense possibilities to cardiologists treating cardiac disorders and biomedical scientists creating new devices for managing heart problems. it recently won laurels at an international product design competition which also honoured the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) and the Tata-owned Jaguar Land Rover.

The heart model — conceived and designed by engineers Dattatraya Parle and Anirudha Ambulgekar — can have many applications. Apart from helping study the basic mechanisms of the heart function, it can aid medical practitioners in diagnosing heart disorders faster and with more precision. Similarly, as the 3-model is capable of simulating the complex functions of the heart, biomedical engineers and researchers can use it to test and validate new medical devices and prostheses for the heart, sacrificing fewer animals in experiments.

“As mechanical engineers, we have been using finite element analysis tools for simulating structural behaviour of different materials, particularly those used in aircraft and automobile industries. For a while, we have been exploring the possibility of taking such advanced simulation techniques to the field of biomedical engineering,” says GVV Ravi Kumar, who heads the advanced engineering group at Infosys. Parle and Ambulgekar work with the advanced engineering group.

The Infosys engineers, working closely with doctors, first created a computer-aided design (CAD) model of the heart from scanned CT images. This was subsequently turned into a mesh simulation model, which could clearly demonstrate how different stresses act on the vital organ. Interestingly, the software program that was used to reconstruct the heart model was originally developed by Nasa many years ago to test the structural behaviour of materials used for making spacecraft.

The model simulates the human heart’s functioning, particularly the deformation and stress induced on heart tissues by systolic (when the heart contracts) and diastolic (when the heart is relaxed) blood pressure. This can help understand cardio-mechanics of the heart and perform quick studies on various parameters influencing the heart function, says Kumar.

“Testing new medical devices is a cumbersome process. Usually it is done in a lab,” says Chetan Kumar Gupta, who heads Infosys’ medical devices group. “For instance, if you have to test a new stent, it is first tested in a rubber tube, which is filled with a liquid that simulates the blood flow. Subsequently, it is tested in animals. Both these processes are very time-consuming and offer very little flexibility. Simulation with a 3D model on the other hand allows us to test many more parameters,” explains Gupta.

“Before new devices are tried in animals and humans, many things can be tested and validated using these kinds of models,” says Gupta. Different people have different hearts, depending on their age as well as the kind of life they lead. For instance, a smoker’s heart would be different from that of a non-smoker. Similarly, the heart of a person who exercises or does yoga regularly will behave differently from that of a person with a sedentary lifestyle. An advanced 3D heart model makes it possible to simulate all these different conditions and test how the device can produce optimum results in different conditions, says Gupta.

This is not for the first time that the Bangalore-based software major has used its ,computational skills to model human body parts. Earlier, it simulated the human teeth. Kumar says they intend to use the same technology platform to create 3D models of other human organs as well.

“Such models are of immense value to biomedical technology developers,” says C.V. Muraleedharan, who heads a device testing laboratory at the Sri Chitra Tirunal Institute of Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST) at Thiruvananthapuram. SCTIMST is famed for designing and developing India’s first home-grown artificial heart valve ( Chitra heart valve), currently used by over 55,000 heart patients.

“The in-silico studies (those performed on computers or using computer simulation) are useful for two reasons. Firstly, a good 3D model allows us to limit animal tests to the bare minimum. Apart from saving many animal lives, it also cuts the cost of technology development drastically,” says Muraleedharan, whose team is currently developing many heart prostheses, including a new-generation tilting disc heart valve, coronary stents and coated vascular grafts.

“Conducting animal trials has become extremely difficult because of animal rights issues as well as the increasing costs involved,” he says.

Finally, there is something for animal rights groups such as the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) to cheer about.