Anatomical Models
tissueprop2

Detailed human models contain more than 120 anatomical features and more than 300 tissues.

Models can be posed without sacrificing anatomical consistency.

Morphing tools allow BMI to be realistically altered to better represent the patient population.

Anatomical Models

 
Expertise & Infrastructure

The IT'IS Foundation has a dedicated and interdisciplinary team of software engineers, biologists, and radiologists to refining and expanding the Virtual Population since their first release in 2007. Suitable for biophysical and biomedical modelling and safety assessments, the ViP 3.x and 4.x models are the premier high-resolution whole-body computational models, supporting over 700 scientific citations and 200 FDA submissions to date. IT'IS works with numerous collaborators, from hospitals and imaging centers to regulatory bodies and industry partners, to develop customized computational human and animal models, as well as detailed regional anatomical models with advanced functionalities.

Drawing from a variety of open as well as proprietary data sources from collaborators, the anatomical models team is supported by more than 100 Sim4Life licenses and several High Performance Computers (HPC) ranging from GPU clusters to supercomputers. The ViP 3.x models themselves are available for commercial or academic use from our partner, ZMT Zurich MedTech AG.

 

Select Customized Research Projects of the Past Years
  • Validated human and animal models through applied focused ultrasound and hyperthermia treatment planning, in collaboration with several leading hospitals and clinics;
  • Reproduced laboratory experiments using animal models created from MRI scans;
  • Created modified models for face-down MRI breast cancer screening, in collaboration with a leading clinic;
  • Functionalized the MIDA head model with neurons and nerve fibers based on high-resolution image data, in collaboration with a major active implant manufacturer;
  • Mapped patient images to Virtual Population models for fast assignment of tissue properties;
  • Produced morphed phantoms to model morbidly obese patients for new wide-bore MR systems.

 

Solutions Beyond State-of-the-Art

IT'IS continuously develops new anatomical models as well as the posing, morphing and personalization tools. Morphed models can fill a large parameter space, suitable for in silico clinical trials or automated population studies. Safety regulators or device manufacturers can perform safety studies on a wide range of patients with controlled variation of features. Patient-specific models can be created by registering patient image data onto ViP models, enabling the next generation of precision medicine. IT'IS Foundation is committed to pursuing these exciting directions together with potential partners.

 

Contact

We look forward to discussing with you how we can best support your R&D initiatives and regulatory submissions – simply call us at +41 44 245 96 96 or send us an email at customized@itis.swiss.

 

RELEVANT PUBLICATIONS (see also external citations)

Neufeld, E., Lloyd, B., Kainz, W. & Kuster, N. Functionalized anatomical models for computational life sciences. Frontiers in Physiology, 9:1594, 2018, doi:10.3389/fphys.2018.01594
Murbach, M., Neufeld, E., Cabot, E., Zastrow, E., Corcoles, J., Kainz, W. & Kuster, N. Virtual Population-Based Assessment of the Impact of 3 Tesla Radiofrequency Shimming and Thermoregulation on Safety and B1+ Uniformity. Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, 76(3):986-997, 2016
Neufeld, E., Cassarà, A.M., Montanaro, H., Kuster, N. & Kainz, W. Functionalized Anatomical Models for EM-Neuron Interaction Modeling. Physics in Medicine & Biology, 61(12):4390-4401, 2016
Gosselin, M.C., Neufeld, E., Moser, H., Huber, E., Farcito, S., Gerber, L., Jedensjoe, M., Hilber, I., Di Gennaro, F., Lloyd, B., Cherubini, E., Szczerba, D., Kainz, W. & Kuster, N. Development of a New Generation of High-Resolution Anatomical Models for Medical Device Evaluation: The Virtual Population 3.0. Physics in Medicine & Biology, 59(18):5287-5303, 2014
Neufeld, E., Gosselin, M.C., Murbach, M., Christ, A., Cabot, E. & Kuster, N. Analysis of the Local Worst-Case SAR Exposure Caused by an MRI Multi-transmit Body Coil in Anatomical Models of the Human Body. Physics in Medicine & Biology, 56(15):4649-4659, 2011, doi:10.1088/0031-9155/56/15/002
Christ, A., Kainz, W., Hahn, E., Honegger, K., Zefferer, M., Neufeld, E., Rascher, W., Janka, R., Bautz, W., Chen, J., Kiefer, B., Schmitt, P., Hollenbach, H.P., Shen, J., Oberle, M., Szczerba, D., Kam, A., Guag, J. & Kuster, N. The Virtual Family - Development of Surface-Based Anatomical Models of Two Adults and Two Children for Dosimetric Simulations. Physics in Medicine & Biology, 55(2):N23-N38, 2010, doi:10.1088/0031-9155/55/2/N01
Szczerba, D., Neufeld, E., Zefferer, M., Szekely, G. & Kuster, N. Unstructured Mesh Generation from the Virtual Family Models for Whole Body Biomedical Simulations. Procedia Computer Science, 1(1):837-844, 2010, doi:10.1016/j.procs.2010.04.091