Because cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the world, many medical device, pharmaceutical, and research facilities are focusing their efforts on cardiac care. These efforts — coupled with technological breakthroughs in imaging, genomics, physiological monitoring, and therapeutic interventions — give researchers and clinicians access to more data about the heart than ever before.
To help advance these efforts, Ansys is providing a reference framework that combines the power of photorealistic visualization, artificial intelligence (AI), and advanced simulation built on the NVIDIA AI and Omniverse platforms. The workflow can help clinicians, researchers, and medical device manufacturers to visualize the physiology and functions of the heart in ways that are difficult to obtain in a clinical setting, equipping them with deeper insights to make more informed decisions. Ansys is showcasing this new era of in silico cardiovascular modeling at NVIDIA GTC in San Jose, California, from March 17-21.
Hey, Ansys, Show Me a Human Heart
Most medical professionals — whether they are surgeons, medical device developers, or academic researchers — are not simulation experts, but that shouldn’t keep them from capitalizing on the benefits simulation can provide, especially for life-saving cardiovascular treatments.
That’s why this framework uses an NVIDIA NIM AI-enabled chatbot system with an interface that is familiar to most people. Users prompt the chatbot with specific queries and customized “PyAnsys-Heart” code is automatically generated, enabling high-fidelity simulation and visualization within Ansys LS-DYNA nonlinear dynamics structural simulation software. The model can then be visualized in an application developed with NVIDIA Omniverse™, a platform of APIs and SDKs that enable developers to build applications for complex 3D and industrial digitalization workflows based on OpenUSD.
This easy-to-use chatbot interface enables industry experts with little simulation experience to forgo learning the underlying complex system of tools needed for immersive cardiovascular system analysis. Users can build on this workflow to visualize patient-specific anatomies and pathologies, medical devices in their working environment, and much more.
Physical AI for Healthcare
Physical AI — the new wave of AI — will enable autonomous medical devices to sense, plan, and perform complex actions in the real world. Building the next generation of AI-enabled and autonomous systems requires a high-fidelity simulation environment that accurately represents sensors, human anatomy, and physiological processes.
Ansys and NVIDIA are working together to develop the tools and workflows to create high-quality, multi-modality, multi-scale physiological simulations and digital twins to use within NVIDIA Isaac for Healthcare. Isaac for Healthcare is an AI robotics development platform specialized for healthcare. It gives developers digital twin framework capabilities integrated with robotic learning tools, enabling comprehensive development from digital prototyping and simulation to physical deployment. Isaac for Healthcare accelerates the development of reliable, policy-driven robotic systems, advancing applications in interventional procedures, diagnostics, and hospital automation.
An easy-to-use chatbot interface enables industry experts with little simulation experience to forgo learning the underlying complex system of tools needed for immersive cardiovascular system analysis.
Cardiac experts usually use two-dimensional (2D) imaging tools such as echocardiograms; cardiac computed tomography (CT) scans; and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for preoperative planning, device design, clinical trial monitoring, and more. While great diagnostic tools, they have limited three-dimensional (3D) visualization capabilities. Doctors can normally only see the 3D details of the heart when a patient is on the operating table. The Ansys-NVIDIA framework could enable 3D visualization of patient-specific anatomies long before a patient reaches an operating room, providing insights that are otherwise unattainable.
The Ansys-NVIDIA framework could enable 3D visualization of patient-specific anatomies long before a patient reaches an operating room, providing insights that are otherwise unattainable.
“The possibilities for workflows like these in medicine are truly endless,” says Mark Palmer, chief technologist of healthcare at Ansys. “It gathers information about the patient in the present and, through high-fidelity simulation, explores multiple possible futures based on different treatment plans. Imagine doctors, nurses, and other practitioners using these technologies to look into multiple possible futures to make the best possible decision for a specific patient’s health today.”
The next generation of cardiovascular breakthroughs will be powered by Ansys and NVIDIA. Visit Ansys at NVIDIA GTC in San Jose, California, from March 17-21 at Booth #224 to learn more about our advanced physics solvers and see exciting demonstrations.
