4D MRI Flow Coupled to Physics‐Based Fluid Simulation for Blood‐Flow Visualization

Abstract

Modern MRI measurements deliver volumetric and time‐varying blood‐flow data of unprecedented quality. Visual analysis of these data potentially leads to a better diagnosis and risk assessment of various cardiovascular diseases. Recent advances have improved the speed and quality of the imaging data considerably. Nevertheless, the data remains compromised by noise and a lack of spatiotemporal resolution. Besides imaging data, also numerical simulations are employed. These are based on mathematical models of specific features of physical reality. However, these models require realistic parameters and boundary conditions based on measurements. We propose to use data assimilation to bring measured data and physically‐based simulation together, and to harness the mutual benefits. The accuracy and noise robustness of the coupled approach is validated using an analytic flow field. Furthermore, we present a comparative visualization that conveys the differences between using conventional interpolation and our coupled approach.

Generation and Visual Exploration of Medical Flow Data: Survey, Research Trends and Future Challenges

“…De Hoon et al . [dHvPJV14] designed comparative visualizations for correlating measured and simulated aortic flow. Measured vectors are represented by grey vector glyphs, while the representations of simulated ones are coloured according to the vectors difference in terms of orientation angle.…”

“…Hoon et al . [dHvPJV14] employed a toon‐shaded vessel representation with culled front faces. Thus, the vessel anatomy acts as canvas and does not interfere with the high‐fidelity glyph and streamline visualization.…”

“…Indeed, Hoon et al . [dHvPJV14] presented comparative visualizations for the coupling of measured aortic 4D PC‐MRI data to CFD simulation results (Figure ). However, to the best of our knowledge, this is so far the only advanced visualization approach supporting the validate task.…”

“…The example indicates acquisition artefacts near the vessel wall due to the strong differences between measured and simulated data, conveyed by the white‐coloured arrow glyphs close to the boundary. Image from [dHvPJV14].…”

“…Hoon et al . [dHvPJV14] presented the coupling of aortic 4D PC‐MRI data to CFD simulation results. Their approach comprises a physics‐based temporal interpolation, a reduction of acquisition noise and artefacts and a comparative visualization (Figure ).…”