| Predicting Successful Surgeries - Inside Science
Reported December 2005
BACKGROUND: A professor at Stanford University is applying his engineering expertise to take some of the guesswork out of predicting surgical outcomes by making a new computer model of the cardiovascular system. Charles Taylor spent 10 years taking detailed information gleaned from diagnostic imaging tools like CT scans and MRI to build his computing modeling program.
THE PROBLEM: People are unique on the inside as well as on the outside, and this can make it difficult for surgeons to predict how any given person will respond to surgery. Currently the only tools available are statistics and educated guesses.
HOW THE MODEL WORKS: The new model incorporates imaging data into a Web-based tool that includes 3D views and surgical sketchpads. Millions of complex equations involving how blood flows through the body and individual physiology are used to demonstrate what might happen under various “what if” scenarios. Taylor has also taken into account the flexibility of veins and arteries. The model is currently being tested by taking data before and after surgery and determining how well the model predicted what actually occurred. Taylor recently reported that in large-animal studies, the model can predict blood flow after an aortic graft within 10 percent.
ABOUT BLOOD FLOW: The heart pumps blood through the arteries, capillaries and veins to provide oxygen and nutrients to every cell of the body, and also carries away waste products from those cells. The liquid portion of the blood is called plasma. It distributes various nutrients and chemicals throughout the body, diffusing into the tissues and cells. In general, they diffuse from areas of high concentration to areas of low concentration. Waste flows in the opposite direction and are removed in the kidneys or the lungs. Blood pressure pushes fluid out of blood vessels. This is balanced by something called oncotic pressure, which keeps fluid inside the blood vessels so that the body maintains a constant volume of blood.
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc., and the American Mathematical Society contributed to the information contained in the TV portion of this report.
If you would like more information, please contact:
For more info on Dr. Taylor's program
http://www.med.stanford.edu/school/vascular/
For more information on engineering:
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.
1828 L Street, N.W., Suite 1202
Washington, D.C. 20036-5104
(202) 785-0017
ieeeusa@ieee.org
http://www.ieee.org
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