Teruo Matsuzawa

Construction of a diagnostic support system for circulatory disease in a volume communications environment

We have constructed a diagnostic support system for circulatory disease based on a volume communications environment. This system is based on a VizGrid environment, i.e. an integrated environment consisting of a data archiving system, a collaboration system, and a computational grid system. In this system, we simulate blood flow in a patients individual blood vessel geometry and blood vessel wall using a weak coupling method. This system can be used with three-dimensional images from CT/MRI, for medical treatment and for simulating blood flow in a blood vessel with circulatory disease in a volume communications environment. With this system, it becomes easy for researchers in remote locations to collaboratively discuss the relevant object, even for complex explanations like the simulation results.

Numerical Simulation in Ulcer-Like Projection due to Type B Aortic Dissection with Complete Thrombosis Type

The aging society has rapidly progressed worldwide and the mortality and morbidity rates of aortic diseases are increasing. In particular, aortic aneurysm and aortic dissection are serious disorders. These may be fatal if their diagnosis and treatment are delayed. In 2006, guideline for the diagnosis and treatment of aortic aneurysm and aortic dissection was established in Japan [1]. In 2010, a guideline for the diagnosis and management of patients with thoracic aortic diseasewas established in the United States[2]. These guidelines pay particular attention to the diagnosis and treatment of aortic diseases. We investigated the possibility of estimating timedependent changes in these diseases using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation. This chapter describes the numerical simulations used for ulcer-like projections due to aortic dissections with complete thrombosis. By combining the results of CFD and diagnostic imaging, we can anticipate future improvements in diagnosis.

Visualization of the Blood Flow and the Stress Distribution with the Diagnostic Support System for Circulatory Disease in the Volume Communications Environment

We have constructed a diagnosis support system for circulatory disease based on a volume communications environment. This system can communicate 3D data of the object under discussion and create visuals with high sensibility. It can display three-dimensional data taken from medical treatment images, and also handle the simulation results of flow in a blood vessel with circulatory disease. With this system in the Volume Communications Environment, it became easy to discuss objects that were difficult to explain, like the simulation results. Moreover, it is easy to understand the shape of the object being discussed from the display of three dimensional spaces in the Virtual Reality system. Patient’s disease part constructed from CT images was able to be displayed in three dimensions by using this environment. In addition, the output from the general-purpose visualization software can be displayed in the collaboration space. In this paper we describe the effectiveness of visualization in the Volume Communications Environment.