About the Project

Empowering clinicians and patients with a realistic visualization of medical images aiming at the improved planning of surgical procedures to correct structural defects of the heart.

About the 3D Heart Project

Congenital heart disease is the most common group of malformations in newborn babies. One in every 250 newborn babies will have to undergo cardiac surgery or catheter intervention.

Patients are increasingly surviving into adult life but many will require further procedures later in life. Patients have their own particular variation of their heart condition, so careful individualised imaging is essential to plan cardiac surgery and other interventions.

Many patients affected with structural heart disease continue to have a poor understanding of their heart condition. In addition, healthcare professionals have often difficulty understanding different types of heart defects. We aim at solving these issues with our new and enhanced imaging technique.

Our solution

Our system is able to project patients’ medical images from 3D echocardiography, computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), into a virtual reality or augmented reality environment. The result is an immersive beating 3D projection of the heart which can be visualised from all sides and angles and manipulated intuitively through gesture control.

Accurate understanding of a heart abnormality is critical for effective surgery and catheter intervention. The technology we are developing will empower clinicians with the visualisation of complex heart structures prior to surgery. The relevant tools for manipulating and sharing images are being developed as part of this project.

By involving patients, carers and healthcare professionals in this project, we are actively exploring the utility of this technology as an educational and training tool.

Acknowledgements

This work is independent research funded by a British Heart Foundation Translational Award (reference number TA/F/20/210021 and the Evelina London Children’s Charity.

We acknowledge the support of the Evelina Children’s Heart Organisation (ECHO) for public and patient involvement and engagement.

This work is based in part on research funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), Invention for Innovation programme (reference number: II-LA-0716-20001). The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR or the Department of Health.

Congenital heart disease is the most common group of malformations in newborn babies. Accurate understanding of a heart abnormality is essential for effective surgery and catheter intervention.