Credibility assessment of patient-specific computational modeling using patient-specific cardiac modeling as an exemplar

Reliable and robust simulation of individual patients using patient-specific models (PSMs) is one of the next frontiers for modeling and simulation (M&S) in healthcare. PSMs, which form the basis of digital twins, can be employed as clinical tools to, for example, assess disease state, predict r...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Suran Galappaththige, Richard A. Gray, Caroline Mendonca Costa, Steven Niederer, Pras Pathmanathan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2022-10-01
Series:PLoS Computational Biology
Online Access:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9550052/?tool=EBI
_version_ 1811240674188591104
author Suran Galappaththige
Richard A. Gray
Caroline Mendonca Costa
Steven Niederer
Pras Pathmanathan
author_facet Suran Galappaththige
Richard A. Gray
Caroline Mendonca Costa
Steven Niederer
Pras Pathmanathan
author_sort Suran Galappaththige
collection DOAJ
description Reliable and robust simulation of individual patients using patient-specific models (PSMs) is one of the next frontiers for modeling and simulation (M&S) in healthcare. PSMs, which form the basis of digital twins, can be employed as clinical tools to, for example, assess disease state, predict response to therapy, or optimize therapy. They may also be used to construct virtual cohorts of patients, for in silico evaluation of medical product safety and/or performance. Methods and frameworks have recently been proposed for evaluating the credibility of M&S in healthcare applications. However, such efforts have generally been motivated by models of medical devices or generic patient models; how best to evaluate the credibility of PSMs has largely been unexplored. The aim of this paper is to understand and demonstrate the credibility assessment process for PSMs using patient-specific cardiac electrophysiological (EP) modeling as an exemplar. We first review approaches used to generate cardiac PSMs and consider how verification, validation, and uncertainty quantification (VVUQ) apply to cardiac PSMs. Next, we execute two simulation studies using a publicly available virtual cohort of 24 patient-specific ventricular models, the first a multi-patient verification study, the second investigating the impact of uncertainty in personalized and non-personalized inputs in a virtual cohort. We then use the findings from our analyses to identify how important characteristics of PSMs can be considered when assessing credibility with the approach of the ASME V&V40 Standard, accounting for PSM concepts such as inter- and intra-user variability, multi-patient and “every-patient” error estimation, uncertainty quantification in personalized vs non-personalized inputs, clinical validation, and others. The results of this paper will be useful to developers of cardiac and other medical image based PSMs, when assessing PSM credibility. Author summary Patient-specific models are computational models that have been personalized using data from a patient. After decades of research, recent computational, data science and healthcare advances have opened the door to the fulfilment of the enormous potential of such models, from truly personalized medicine to efficient and cost-effective testing of new medical products. However, reliability (credibility) of patient-specific models is key to their success, and there are currently no general guidelines for evaluating credibility of patient-specific models. Here, we consider how frameworks and model evaluation activities that have been developed for generic (not patient-specific) computational models, can be extended to patient specific models. We achieve this through a detailed analysis of the activities required to evaluate cardiac electrophysiological models, chosen as an exemplar field due to its maturity and the complexity of such models. This is the first paper on the topic of reliability of patient-specific models and will help pave the way to reliable and trusted patient-specific modeling across healthcare applications.
first_indexed 2024-04-12T13:24:23Z
format Article
id doaj.art-9d44eecc89db4fb2aa060d8f608c3e02
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 1553-734X
1553-7358
language English
last_indexed 2024-04-12T13:24:23Z
publishDate 2022-10-01
publisher Public Library of Science (PLoS)
record_format Article
series PLoS Computational Biology
spelling doaj.art-9d44eecc89db4fb2aa060d8f608c3e022022-12-22T03:31:23ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS Computational Biology1553-734X1553-73582022-10-011810Credibility assessment of patient-specific computational modeling using patient-specific cardiac modeling as an exemplarSuran GalappaththigeRichard A. GrayCaroline Mendonca CostaSteven NiedererPras PathmanathanReliable and robust simulation of individual patients using patient-specific models (PSMs) is one of the next frontiers for modeling and simulation (M&S) in healthcare. PSMs, which form the basis of digital twins, can be employed as clinical tools to, for example, assess disease state, predict response to therapy, or optimize therapy. They may also be used to construct virtual cohorts of patients, for in silico evaluation of medical product safety and/or performance. Methods and frameworks have recently been proposed for evaluating the credibility of M&S in healthcare applications. However, such efforts have generally been motivated by models of medical devices or generic patient models; how best to evaluate the credibility of PSMs has largely been unexplored. The aim of this paper is to understand and demonstrate the credibility assessment process for PSMs using patient-specific cardiac electrophysiological (EP) modeling as an exemplar. We first review approaches used to generate cardiac PSMs and consider how verification, validation, and uncertainty quantification (VVUQ) apply to cardiac PSMs. Next, we execute two simulation studies using a publicly available virtual cohort of 24 patient-specific ventricular models, the first a multi-patient verification study, the second investigating the impact of uncertainty in personalized and non-personalized inputs in a virtual cohort. We then use the findings from our analyses to identify how important characteristics of PSMs can be considered when assessing credibility with the approach of the ASME V&V40 Standard, accounting for PSM concepts such as inter- and intra-user variability, multi-patient and “every-patient” error estimation, uncertainty quantification in personalized vs non-personalized inputs, clinical validation, and others. The results of this paper will be useful to developers of cardiac and other medical image based PSMs, when assessing PSM credibility. Author summary Patient-specific models are computational models that have been personalized using data from a patient. After decades of research, recent computational, data science and healthcare advances have opened the door to the fulfilment of the enormous potential of such models, from truly personalized medicine to efficient and cost-effective testing of new medical products. However, reliability (credibility) of patient-specific models is key to their success, and there are currently no general guidelines for evaluating credibility of patient-specific models. Here, we consider how frameworks and model evaluation activities that have been developed for generic (not patient-specific) computational models, can be extended to patient specific models. We achieve this through a detailed analysis of the activities required to evaluate cardiac electrophysiological models, chosen as an exemplar field due to its maturity and the complexity of such models. This is the first paper on the topic of reliability of patient-specific models and will help pave the way to reliable and trusted patient-specific modeling across healthcare applications.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9550052/?tool=EBI
spellingShingle Suran Galappaththige
Richard A. Gray
Caroline Mendonca Costa
Steven Niederer
Pras Pathmanathan
Credibility assessment of patient-specific computational modeling using patient-specific cardiac modeling as an exemplar
PLoS Computational Biology
title Credibility assessment of patient-specific computational modeling using patient-specific cardiac modeling as an exemplar
title_full Credibility assessment of patient-specific computational modeling using patient-specific cardiac modeling as an exemplar
title_fullStr Credibility assessment of patient-specific computational modeling using patient-specific cardiac modeling as an exemplar
title_full_unstemmed Credibility assessment of patient-specific computational modeling using patient-specific cardiac modeling as an exemplar
title_short Credibility assessment of patient-specific computational modeling using patient-specific cardiac modeling as an exemplar
title_sort credibility assessment of patient specific computational modeling using patient specific cardiac modeling as an exemplar
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9550052/?tool=EBI
work_keys_str_mv AT surangalappaththige credibilityassessmentofpatientspecificcomputationalmodelingusingpatientspecificcardiacmodelingasanexemplar
AT richardagray credibilityassessmentofpatientspecificcomputationalmodelingusingpatientspecificcardiacmodelingasanexemplar
AT carolinemendoncacosta credibilityassessmentofpatientspecificcomputationalmodelingusingpatientspecificcardiacmodelingasanexemplar
AT stevenniederer credibilityassessmentofpatientspecificcomputationalmodelingusingpatientspecificcardiacmodelingasanexemplar
AT praspathmanathan credibilityassessmentofpatientspecificcomputationalmodelingusingpatientspecificcardiacmodelingasanexemplar