Abstract
Cardiovascular blood flow simulations can fill several critical gaps in current clinical capabilities. They offer non-invasive ways to quantify hemodynamics in the heart and major blood vessels for patients with cardiovascular diseases, that cannot be directly obtained from medical imaging. Patient-specific simulations (incorporating data unique to the individual) enable individualised risk prediction, provide key insights into disease progression and/or abnormal physiologic detection. They also provide means to systematically design and test new medical devices, and are used as predictive tools to surgical and personalize treatment planning and, thus aid in clinical decision-making. Patient-specific predictive simulations require effective assimilation of medical data for reliable simulated predictions. This is usually achieved by the solution of an inverse hemodynamic problem, where uncertain model parameters are estimated using the techniques for merging data and numerical models known as data assimilation methods.In this thesis, the inverse problem is solved through a data assimilation method using an ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF) for parameter estimation. By using an ensemble Kalman filter, the solution also comes with a quantification of the uncertainties for the estimated parameters. An ensemble Kalman filter-based parameter estimation algorithm is proposed for patient-specific hemodynamic computations in a schematic arterial network from uncertain clinical measurements. Several in silico scenarii (using synthetic data) are considered to investigate the efficiency of the parameter estimation algorithm using EnKF. The usefulness of the parameter estimation algorithm is also assessed using experimental data from an in vitro test rig and actual real clinical data from a volunteer (patient-specific case). The proposed algorithm is evaluated on arterial networks which include single arteries, cases of bifurcation, a simple human arterial network and a complex arterial network including the circle of Willis.The ultimate aim is to perform patient-specific hemodynamic analysis in the network of the circle of Willis. Common hemodynamic properties (parameters), like arterial wall properties (Young’s modulus, wall thickness, and viscoelastic coefficient) and terminal boundary parameters (reflection coefficient and Windkessel model parameters) are estimated as the solution to an inverse problem using time series pressure values and blood flow rate as measurements. It is also demonstrated that a proper reduced order zero-dimensional compartment model can lead to a simple and reliable estimation of blood flow features in the circle of Willis. The simulations with the estimated parameters capture target pressure or flow rate waveforms at given specific locations.