An effective simulation- and measurement-based workflow for enhanced diagnostics in rhinology

Medical & Biological Engineering & Computing, vol. 60, pp. 365–391

Abstract

Physics-based analyses have the potential to consolidate and substantiate medical diagnoses in rhinology. Such methods are frequently subject to intense investigations in research. However, they are not used in clinical applications, yet. One issue preventing their direct integration is that these methods are commonly developed as isolated solutions which do not consider the whole chain of data processing from initial medical to higher valued data. This manuscript presents a workflow that incorporates the whole data processing pipeline based on a Jupyter environment. Therefore, medical image data are fully automatically pre-processed by machine learning algorithms. The resulting geometries employed for the simulations on high-performance computing systems reach an accuracy of up to 99.5% compared to manually segmented geometries. Additionally, the user is enabled to upload and visualize 4-phase rhinomanometry data. Subsequent analysis and visualization of the simulation outcome extend the results of standardized diagnostic methods by a physically sound interpretation. Along with a detailed presentation of the methodologies, the capabilities of the workflow are demonstrated by evaluating an exemplary medical case. The pipeline output is compared to 4-phase rhinomanometry data. The comparison underlines the functionality of the pipeline. However, it also illustrates the influence of mucosa swelling on the simulation. Graphical Abstract Workflow for enhanced diagnostics in rhinology.

Authors 11

1. Moritz Waldmann corresponding Aachen Institute of Aerodynamics Chair of Fluid Mechanics

   Forschungszentrum Jülich · Jülich Aachen Research Alliance · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Aerodynamics and Chair of Fluid Mechanics, RWTH Aachen University, Wüllnerstr. 5a, 52062, Aachen, Germany. m.waldmann@aia.rwth-aachen.de

   Jülich Aachen Research Alliance Center for Simulation and Data Science (JARA-CSD), RWTH Aachen University and Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Kopernikusstr. 6, 52074, Aachen, Germany. m.waldmann@aia.rwth-aachen.de

   Institute of Aerodynamics and Chair of Fluid Mechanics, RWTH Aachen University, Wüllnerstr. 5a, 52062, Aachen, Germany

2. Alice Grosch

   Forschungszentrum Jülich · Jülich Supercomputing Centre

   Affiliation as printed

   Jülich Supercomputing Centre, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Wilhelm-Johnen-Straße, 52425, Jülich, Germany

3. Christian Witzler

   Forschungszentrum Jülich · Jülich Supercomputing Centre

   Affiliation as printed

   Jülich Supercomputing Centre, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Wilhelm-Johnen-Straße, 52425, Jülich, Germany

4. Matthias Lehner
   Affiliation as printed

   Angewandte Informationstechnik Forschungsgesellschaft mbH, Klosterwiesgasse 32/1, 8010, Graz, Austria

5. Odo Benda
   Affiliation as printed

   Angewandte Informationstechnik Forschungsgesellschaft mbH, Klosterwiesgasse 32/1, 8010, Graz, Austria

6. Walter Koch
   Affiliation as printed

   Angewandte Informationstechnik Forschungsgesellschaft mbH, Klosterwiesgasse 32/1, 8010, Graz, Austria

7. Klaus Vogt
   Affiliation as printed

   Sutter Medizintechnik GmbH, Tullastraße 87, 79108, Freiburg, Germany

8. Christopher Kohn
   Affiliation as printed

   Med Contact GmbH, Kornbühlstr. 100-102, 72393, Salmendingen, Germany

9. Wolfgang Schröder Aachen Institute of Aerodynamics Chair of Fluid Mechanics

   Forschungszentrum Jülich · Jülich Aachen Research Alliance · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Aerodynamics and Chair of Fluid Mechanics, RWTH Aachen University, Wüllnerstr. 5a, 52062, Aachen, Germany

   Jülich Aachen Research Alliance Center for Simulation and Data Science (JARA-CSD), RWTH Aachen University and Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Kopernikusstr. 6, 52074, Aachen, Germany

10. Jens Henrik Göbbert

    Forschungszentrum Jülich · Jülich Supercomputing Centre

    Affiliation as printed

    Jülich Supercomputing Centre, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Wilhelm-Johnen-Straße, 52425, Jülich, Germany

11. Andreas Lintermann Aachen

    Forschungszentrum Jülich · Jülich Aachen Research Alliance · Jülich Supercomputing Centre · RWTH Aachen University

    Affiliation as printed

    Jülich Aachen Research Alliance Center for Simulation and Data Science (JARA-CSD), RWTH Aachen University and Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Kopernikusstr. 6, 52074, Aachen, Germany

    Jülich Supercomputing Centre, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Wilhelm-Johnen-Straße, 52425, Jülich, Germany