CMR acquisition for creation of patient-specific computational models
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Image acquisition for creation of patient-specific computational atrial models in order to run atrial fibrillation electrophysiological simulations that output ablation targets.
IRAS ID
305786
Contact name
Ryan Longley
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 28 days
Research summary
Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained heart rhythm disorder, affecting 1–2% of the global population and contributing significantly to mortality and morbidity rates. Catheter ablation has been used increasingly to treat AF, particularly with patients with symptomatic, drug-refractory, paroxysmal or persistent AF. However, re-occurrence of AF appears up to 50% of patients after the initial catheter ablation treatment.
Personalised computational models offer a novel approach to this clinical issue. By using medical images, usually cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) images, patient-specific computational heart models can be constructed and could be a powerful tool for improving treatment outcomes for patients suffering with AF, particularly in the case of persistent AF and atrial fibrosis. The in-silico model of the patient’s atria can be used to map out optimal ablation sites and then simulate the catheter ablation procedure to see how effective ablation sites are at stopping AF. One advantage of this method is that the simulation can be run multiple times to locate any emergent post-ablation re-entrant driver sites, which have been linked to the reoccurrence of AF.
We will investigate the optimum MRI image acquisition parameters for imaging AF patient's atrial anatomy in order to obtain the best possible images to construct patient-specific models from. These patient-specific models can then be used to run electrophysiological simulations on which will output virtual ablation maps, which will be compared against the real procedure CARTO ablation maps.
REC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - Leeds West Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
22/YH/0059
Date of REC Opinion
22 Apr 2022
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion