Accelerating the convergence to a limit cycle in 3D cardiac electromechanical simulations through a data-driven 0D...

Area of Science:

• Computational Biology
• Cardiac Electrophysiology
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Numerical simulations of cardiac electromechanics require extensive computation to reach a stable limit cycle.
• The long transient phase before the limit cycle represents significant computational overhead.
• Clinically relevant outputs are primarily associated with the limit cycle phase of cardiac function.

Purpose of the Study:

• To accelerate the convergence to the limit cycle in cardiac electromechanics simulations.
• To reduce the computational cost associated with obtaining clinically relevant simulation outputs.
• To introduce a data-driven surrogate modeling strategy for efficient cardiac modeling.

Main Methods:

• Developed a 0D emulator using an automated data-driven algorithm based on pressure-volume transients from 3D cardiac models.
• The emulator replaces computationally intensive 3D components with a simplified 0D representation.
• Proposed a parametric emulator for handling variations in 3D electromechanical model parameters.

Main Results:

• The 0D emulator achieved solutions close to the limit cycle in just two heartbeats, compared to over 20 heartbeats with the 3D model.
• The emulator significantly reduces computational overhead, making it suitable for many-query applications like sensitivity analysis and parameter estimation.
• Emulator construction does not require repetition when circulation model parameters change, and parametric emulators handle variations in 3D model parameters.

Conclusions:

• The proposed surrogate modeling strategy dramatically accelerates convergence to the limit cycle in cardiac electromechanics simulations.
• This approach offers substantial computational savings and enhances the efficiency of parameter-dependent analyses.
• An accompanying Python library facilitates integration with existing cardiac solvers, promoting wider adoption.