Virtual Heart — VR Risk Assessment for TAVI
Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI) is a minimally invasive procedure for replacing a diseased heart valve. The choice of device — size, type, deployment angle — depends on a pre-operative assessment of the patient’s anatomy from CT data. Getting that assessment wrong has direct consequences for the patient.
This project built a VR-based risk-assessment demonstrator that gives interventional cardiologists an immersive view of the patient’s cardiac anatomy alongside a pre-computed simulation of the implant. The cardiologist can explore the anatomy, position the virtual device, and assess risk before the procedure. The specific risks under assessment were structural damage from excessive artery wall pressure and paravalvular leakage; during evaluation, cardiologists also raised structural fit as a decision-relevant factor.
Architecture work
The core challenge was integrating three heterogeneous data streams into a real-time VR experience: volumetric DICOM image data, clinical landmark data derived from image segmentation, and pre-computed biophysical simulation output modelling device behaviour under patient-specific loading. These had different data formats, update rates, coordinate systems, and precision requirements. The architecture defined the integration layer that kept them consistent in real-time without introducing latency visible to the clinical user.
Segmentations of the vasculature are extracted from a CT movie. They form the basis for simulating the physical effects of device insertion and expansion on the vessel walls, keeping in mind patient-specific vasculature and calcifications.
Team
The project was led and executed by a 6-engineer cross-disciplinary team spanning workflow analysis and interaction design, software engineering, clinical domain expertise, and biophysical simulation. Full budget-holder responsibility. The system was publicly demonstrated in 2018 and 2019, a.o. at the Dutch Technology Week.
Clinical practitioner evaluation
The system was evaluated with interventional cardiologists. Clinical findings from the evaluation directly informed subsequent product strategy decisions.
Credentials demonstrated
Clinical practiioner evaluation, real-time volumetric data integration, biophysical simulation integration, safety-relevant system architecture, team and budget leadership.