The Lung Physiome and virtual patient models: From morphometry to clinical translation

The understanding or prediction of specific functions of the lung can be made using compact models that have identifiable parameters and that are custom designed to the problem of interest. However, when structure contributes to function - as is the case with most lung pathologies - structure-based, biophysical models become essential. Here we describe the application of structure-based models within the lung Physiome framework to identifying and explaining patient risk in 12patients diagnosed with acute pulmonary embolism. The model integrates perfusion, ventilation, and gas exchange to predict arterial blood gases and pulmonary artery pressure in individual patient models in response to patient-specific blood clot distribution, with full or partial arterial occlusion. The necessity for a patient-specific approach with biophysical models that account for scale-specific structure and function is demonstrated.