Lung Digital Twin Calibration for Safer Mechanical Ventilation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current mechanical ventilation systems struggle to prevent Ventilator Induced Lung Injury (VILI) due to the heterogeneity of lung structures and mechanical properties, which are not adequately addressed by existing patient-specific models, leading to localized stress and strain concentrations.
Innovation Solution
A mechanical ventilation system that uses deformable image registration (DIR) with CT or X-ray imaging and transpulmonary pressure readings to create a patient-specific, quantitative elasticity map, generating a digital twin of the thoracic cavity to simulate and optimize ventilator settings dynamically.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a three-dimensional biophysical model of the lungs is constructed based on CT imaging information, then the ability to simulate lung behavior under mechanical ventilation is improved, but the model lacks patient-specific and locally varying mechanical properties, reducing its precision in predicting local stress and strain concentrations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by transitioning from uniform mechanical properties throughout the lung model to spatially varying mechanical properties. Deformable image registration maps local volumetric strain from CT images to specific lung regions, creating a compliance map where each voxel has patient-specific mechanical properties. This allows the model to accurately represent local heterogeneity in lung tissue stiffness and predict localized stress concentrations that uniform models cannot capture.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent adds a spatial dimension to mechanical property distribution by using 3D CT imaging and deformable registration. Instead of treating the lung as a lumped parameter system with global compliance values, the invention creates a volumetric compliance map where mechanical properties vary across three-dimensional space. This dimensional expansion enables visualization and quantification of local mechanical heterogeneity that would be invisible in 1D or 2D representations.
2Loss of information
If deformable image registration is used to map regional deformations in the lung, then diagnostic information for preventing VILI is improved, but the requirement for breath hold or pause maneuvers increases procedure complexity and time
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by acquiring both inhalation and exhalation CT images at the beginning of the mechanical ventilation process, before VILI occurs. The deformable image registration is performed once to establish the baseline compliance map. This preliminary characterization allows for ongoing monitoring and adjustment of ventilator settings without requiring repeated breath-hold maneuvers, reducing procedural complexity while maintaining diagnostic information quality.
3Productivity
If a digital twin of the thoracic cavity is generated and continuously updated with imaging data, then real-time clinical decision support is improved, but the computational resources and processing time required increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies copying by creating a digital twin - a virtual replica of the patient's thoracic cavity that mirrors the physical lungs' mechanical properties. This digital copy is generated from initial CT imaging and can be updated with subsequent imaging data. The digital twin allows clinicians to simulate different ventilator settings and predict their effects on lung mechanics without exposing the actual patient to trial-and-error adjustments, enabling real-time decision support while minimizing the need for repeated complex imaging procedures.
Data Source
AI summary
A mechanical ventilation device comprising at least one electronic controller configured to receive imaging data and transpulmonary pressure data associated with a lung of a patient; perform deformable image registration of the inhalation image and the exhalation image to produce a relative compliance or elasticity map of the lungs; convert the relative compliance or elasticity map of the lungs to a quantitative compliance or elasticity map of the lungs based on the inhale transpulmonary pressure and the exhale transpulmonary pressure; and display the information relating to or derived from the quantitative compliance or elasticity map on a display device.