SPP 2311:  Robust coupling of continuum-biomechanical in silico models to establish active biological system models for later use in clinical applications - Co-design of modeling, numerics and usability

• Subject Area: Construction Engineering and Architecture ; Biology ; Computer Science, Systems and Electrical Engineering ; Mechanical and Industrial Engineering ; Materials Science and Engineering ; Mathematics ; Medicine ; Thermal Engineering/Process Engineering
• Term: since 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 441884911

This is the central coordination project to support the second funding phase of the Priority Programme 2311 on "Robust Coupling of Continuum-biomechanical In Silico Models to Establish Active Biological System Models for Later Use in Clinical Applications -- Co- Design of Modelling, Numerics and Usability". The motivation for the PP results from the fact that although great progress has been made in biomechanics in recent times, the potential for medical applications has not yet been fully exploited. This is partly caused by the still insufficiently developed interfaces between modeling, numerics and clinical application. This problem will be adressed by the PP via an iterative co-design during biomechanical model development. The aim is to develop sustainable development processes in biomechanics with a blueprint character. The challenge we face, is the high complexity of active biological systems; therefore, multi-scale system models require close cooperation between medicine, engineering sciences, numerical mathematics (numerics) and computer science. In particular, the description of multi-scale system models requires innovative coupling strategies that incorporate state-of-the-art computer architectures, new and robust numerical methods, data structures and integration possibilities. In addition, the simulation results must be prepared in joint work with medical scientists for transfer to the clinic and for application with clinical questions. In the first funding period, pioneering successes have already been achieved in the development of coupled multi-scale models with robust coupling methods and strategies. Examples are holistic in silico models for the skeletal muscle, heart or liver. However, the connection to numerics and usability remains challenging. For example, which data for parameterization and individualization are also available in clinical practice, which numerical solution algorithms are stable and efficient enough to be accepted and used error-free by clinical users, or how can the methods already developed be transferred to other application scenarios? We aim to address questions like these in the second funding period. The focus of this Priority Programme is on models of active biological systems in the human organism, to advance methods that can later be integrated within a clinical environment, and to define the interfaces between models and clinical application. However, the PP does not aim to establish the transfer of the models into the clinic via clinical trials. In particular, the programme will concentrate on coupling strategies for "active" biological systems. The definition of "active" refers to systems that experience a change of state due to physical, chemical, and/or biological phenomena or stimuli. Examples are metabolic processes, growth and remodelling, or electrical stimulation.

• DFG Programme: Priority Programmes
• International Connection: Netherlands

Projects

• A multiscale framework for acute ischemic stroke therapy based on two-phase fluid-structure interaction models on vascular networks (Applicants Kolbe, Niklas ;  Neidlin, Michael ;  Nikoubashman, Omid )
• Automated Segmentation and DIscrimination for Intracranial Aneurysms (AI4IA): Enhancing Robustness of Clinical Risk Scores based on Morphology and Hemodynamics (Applicants Berg, Ph.D., Philipp ;  Goubergrits, Leonid )
• Central Coordination Project (Applicant Röhrle, Ph.D., Oliver )
• Coordination Project of the SPP2311 (Applicant Ricken, Tim )
• Coupled analysis of active biological processes for meniscus tissue regeneration: Experiments, statistical data processing, and datainformed in-silico modeling (Applicants Redenbach, Claudia ;  Seitz, Andreas Martin ;  Simeon, Bernd ;  Surulescu, Christina )
• Detection Limits for Electromyography-Based Diagnostics of Spontaneous Muscle Activity (Applicants Klotz, Thomas ;  Marquetand, Justus )
• Efficient and robust coupling methods for electro-mechanic models of the human heart (Applicants Loewe, Axel ;  Wieners, Christian )
• Evidence-based personalized rehabilitation protocols for uneventful healing with data-driven virtual twins (Applicants Braun, Benedikt ;  Diebels, Stefan )
• Fluid-Structure-Interaction Modelling of the Heart Hemodynamics using Statistical Shape Models (Applicants Barbieri, Ph.D., Fabian ;  Goubergrits, Leonid ;  Kühne, Titus )
• In-stent restenosis in coronary arteries – computational and data-driven investigations towards translational modeling (Applicants Behr, Ph.D., Marek ;  Linka, Kevin ;  Vogt, Felix )
• Modeling and simulation of pharmaco-mechanical fluid-structure interaction for an enhanced treatment of cardiovascular diseases (Applicants Balzani, Daniel ;  Klawonn, Axel ;  Rheinbach, Oliver )
• Modelling, Simulation and Optimisation for Agonist-Antagonist Myoneural Interface Surgeries (Applicants Göddeke, Dominik ;  Röhrle, Ph.D., Oliver ;  Schulte, Miriam )
• Multi-scale algorithms and simulation methodologies for the long-term prognosis of endovascular interventions in cerebral aneurysms (Applicants Kirschke, Jan Stefan ;  Popp, Alexander ;  Wohlmuth, Barbara )
• Multi-scale coupling of the vascular hemodynamics for an AI-assisted, standardized evaluation of neurological pathologies (Applicants Berg, Ph.D., Philipp ;  Saalfeld, Sylvia )
• Multiscale Modelling of Ultrasound Neuromodulation in the Human Brain – From Neuron to Brain (Applicants Keip, Marc-André ;  Ortiz, Ph.D., Michael ;  Sitti, Metin )
• SimLivA II – SIMulation supported LIVer Assessment for donor organs II - Continuum-biomechanical modeling for staging of ischemia-reperfusion injury during liver transplantation and machine perfusion (Applicants Dahmen, Uta ;  König, Matthias ;  Ricken, Tim ;  Tautenhahn, Hans-Michael )
• Skeletal Muscle Adaptation: the cornerstone for modelling neuromuscular diseases and predicting muscular deficiencies (Identification, Homogenisation, Verification, and Integration) (Applicants Ates, Filiz ;  Röhrle, Ph.D., Oliver )

• Spokesperson: Professor Dr.-Ing. Tim Ricken