Project description
An innovative in-silico platform for drug-eluting BVS design
Atherosclerosis poses a significant burden to individuals in Europe and worldwide. As a result, there is an urgent need for innovative solutions to improve treatment and the patients' quality of life. The EU-funded InSilc project is developing an in-silico clinical trial platform to assist researchers, cardiologists, and biomedical industry experts in the design, development, and evaluation of drug-eluting bioresorbable vascular scaffolds (BVS). To achieve this goal, advanced computational modelling and comprehensive biomedical and biological knowledge will be employed to simulate stent implantation performance within patient-specific cardiovascular anatomies. The introduction of the InSilc platform will provide significant improvements in the stent implantation treatment approach, resulting in reduced direct and indirect healthcare delivery costs.
Objective
The aim of InSilc is to develop an in-silico clinical trial (ISCT) platform for designing, developing and assessing drug-eluting bioresorbable vascular scaffolds (BVS), by building on the comprehensive biological and biomedical knowledge and advanced modelling approaches to simulate their implantation performance in the individual cardiovascular physiology. The InSilc platform is based on the extension of existing multidisciplinary and multiscale models for simulating the drug-eluting BVS mechanical behaviour, the deployment and degradation, the fluid dynamics in the micro- and macroscale, and the myocardial perfusion, for predicting its interaction with the vascular wall in the short- and medium/long term. InSilc goes beyond the design and development of ISCT and lays on the generation of in-silico models for obtaining quick and informed answers to several “What if” scenarios. “Virtual” patients would be given a “virtual” drug-eluting BVS, for observing the performance of the scaffold, assess and quantify the intended effect, with a deeper understanding than normal trials can provide. By integrating the information obtained from different in-silico predictive models, InSilc will: (i) assist in the development, assessment and optimization of the drug-eluting BVS and deliver accurate and reliable information to the Stent Biomedical Industry, (ii) assist the interventional Cardiologists in improving the surgical process of drug-eluting BVS implantation, support them in the clinical assessment and reduce the complications of suboptimal scaffold performance. By introducing computer simulations for establishing the safety and efficacy of drug-eluting BVS, InSilc aims to lower development costs and shorten time-to-market, reduce, refine, and partially replace human clinical trials through a more effective human clinical trials design, reduce the need for animal testing and result in a significant reduction of the associated direct and indirect costs.
Fields of science
- medical and health sciencesclinical medicineangiologyvascular diseases
- natural sciencesphysical sciencesclassical mechanicsfluid mechanicsfluid dynamics
- medical and health sciencesclinical medicineendocrinologydiabetes
- medical and health sciencesbasic medicinephysiology
- natural sciencesmathematicsapplied mathematicsstatistics and probability
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
RIA - Research and Innovation actionCoordinator
70013 Irakleio
Greece