Researchers Karim Taha from UMC Utrecht and Nick van Osta from Maastricht University have received a Dekker Grant from the Dutch Heart Foundation. This personal research grant is awarded annually to talented scientists. With the grant of €680,000, the researchers will develop a digital replica of the heart to determine which approach works best for each patient.
People with heart failure due to a stiff heart muscle suffer from severe complaints, but there is no standard treatment because the cause differs from person to person. Cardiologist in training Karim Taha and biomedical engineer Nick van Osta are developing a digital replica of the heart to determine which approach works best for each patient.
Heart failure due to a stiff heart muscle is a rapidly growing and often misunderstood form of heart failure. More than 64 million people worldwide suffer from this condition. Thousands of patients in the Netherlands also struggle with it. Their heart still contracts well, but it cannot relax properly. As a result, the heart fills with less blood and does not pump enough blood around the body. This causes symptoms such as shortness of breath and very poor physical condition, making even ordinary daily activities very difficult. Patients often end up in the hospital repeatedly.
The causes differ significantly from person to person. High blood pressure, diabetes, or obesity can play a role, but not in everyone. Because the underlying issues are so diverse, one standard treatment usually does not work well. Doctors often cannot precisely see what is wrong with the heart and which treatment will truly help. To understand this better, researchers Taha and Van Osta are developing a digital replica of the heart.
This personal computer simulation is made based on ultrasound images of the patient, both at rest and during exertion. This is important because the symptoms primarily appear when the heart has to work harder. The digital replica shows which disruptions in the heart are responsible for the complaints of a specific patient.
With this approach, the researchers can first test potential treatments on the digital heart before a patient receives them. This way, it becomes clear which treatment has the best chance of success. The technology also helps to reliably assess the heart filling pressure. This important value could only be measured accurately through a burdensome heart catheterization until now.
In the long term, the digital replica can also be used to monitor the progression of the disease and continuously refine the treatment plan. In this way, Taha and Van Osta bring better, more personalized care for people with a stiff heart muscle a significant step closer.
