Vascular Mathematical Modelling: Personalised Medicine and the Creation of Digital Twins

Proposed to aid clinical practice, the concept of personalised medicine refers to a system whereby an individual's specific treatment needs are met on a case-by-case basis, rather than in a "one-size-fits-all" mantra that many treatments take, out of necessity, lack of interest or obstruction to appropriate study. One tenant of personalised medicine is the idea of a digital twin - wherein a physical system and its mechanisms, such as partial or whole organs, are replicated virtually to permit unobstructed study of physiology, pathology and treatment responses. A digital twin requires construction, and here presented is a modular, iterative and collaborative system of platforms for the creation of whole organ vascular models in silico using in vivo and ex vivo data, and the subsequent study of pathological affliction therein. Models of the mouse hindlimb and heart as well as the human prostate are currently under study, with the platform developed offering simulation of primary disease responses, namely arteriogenic and angiogenic remodelling, in response to diseases such as ischaemia and cancer thus far. The platform is designed to be iteratively built using standard pre-clinical outputs, and software features were incorporated to make use of old or previously disregarded data or even basic schematics, as well as specific partnered studies. Moreover, the outputs of the generated models are purposefully steered to replicate pre-clinical results, permitting a more direct coupling to biological studies. In time, the aim is to offer a wide range of organ and disease options that may be used to investigate treatment outcomes, disease exacerbators and for deployment as an in silico imaging phantom for ground truth driven engineering of imaging modalities.