Systems and methods for determination of blood flow characteristics and pathologies through modeling of myocardial blood supply

1. A computer-implemented method of analyzing patient-specific perfusion, the method comprising:

receiving a patient-specific vascular model associated with an individual;

receiving or determining a pathology of the patient-specific vascular model;

receiving a patient-specific tissue model associated with the individual;

identifying one or more perfusion territories within the patient-specific vascular model, using the patient-specific tissue model;

parameterizing one or more locations of the pathology within the one or more perfusion territories of the patient-specific vascular model;

using forward modeling to generate a patient-specific perfusion model by modeling a blood flow through the identified perfusion territories;

prompting a user to provide a severity of the pathology at the one or more locations; and

assessing an effect of the pathology on perfusion by modeling perfusion through portions of the one or more perfusion territories corresponding to locations of the pathology for which the user provided a severity of the pathology.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving a patient-specific observed perfusion value;

deforming the patient-specific vascular model based on the patient-specific perfusion model and the received patient-specific observed perfusion value;

generating an updated patient-specific vascular model based on the deformed patient-specific vascular model; and

outputting the updated patient-specific vascular model.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2 , further comprising:

calculating a perfusion value using the deformed patient-specific vascular model;

determining that the perfusion value is equivalent to the patient-specific observed perfusion value; and

based on the determining, generating the updated patient-specific vascular model according to the deformed patient-specific vascular model.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 2 , further comprising:

estimating one or more patient plaque characteristics based on the updated patient-specific vascular model.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 4 , further comprising:

identifying a set of hypothetical plaque pathologies that produce the observed patient-specific perfusion value, wherein the one or more patient plaque characteristics are associated with the set of hypothetical plaque pathologies.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving a perfusion value associated with the patient-specific tissue model; and

registering the received perfusion value to a location of the patient-specific vascular model.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 ,

wherein the forward modeling uses the parameterized one or more locations of the pathology of the vascular model.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 7 , wherein the pathology is a plaque.

9. A system for analyzing patient-specific perfusion, the system comprising:

a data storage device storing instructions for generating a patient-specific perfusion treatment recommendation; and

a processor configured to execute the instructions to perform a method including:

receiving a patient-specific vascular model associated with an individual;

receiving or determining a pathology of the patient-specific vascular model;

receiving a patient-specific tissue model associated with the individual;

identifying one or more perfusion territories within the patient-specific vascular model, using the patient-specific tissue model;

parameterizing one or more locations of the pathology within the one or more perfusion territories of the patient-specific vascular model;

using forward modeling to generate a patient-specific perfusion model by modeling a blood flow through the identified perfusion territories;

prompting a user to provide a severity of the pathology at the one or more locations; and

assessing an effect of the pathology on perfusion by modeling perfusion through portions of the one or more perfusion territories corresponding to locations of the pathology for which the user provided a severity of the pathology.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the system is further configured for:

receiving a patient-specific observed perfusion value;

deforming the patient-specific vascular model based on the patient-specific perfusion model and the received patient-specific observed perfusion value;

generating an updated patient-specific vascular model based on the deformed patient-specific vascular model; and

outputting the updated patient-specific vascular model.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the system is further configured for:

calculating a perfusion value using the deformed patient-specific vascular model;

determining that the perfusion value is equivalent to the patient-specific observed perfusion value; and

based on the determining, generating the updated patient-specific vascular model according to the deformed patient-specific vascular model.

12. The system of claim 10 , wherein the system is further configured for:

estimating one or more patient plaque characteristics based on the updated patient-specific vascular model.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the system if further configured for:

identifying a set of hypothetical plaque pathologies that produce the observed patient-specific perfusion value, wherein the one or more patient plaque characteristics are associated with the set of hypothetical plaque pathologies.

14. The system of claim 9 , wherein the system is further configured for:

receiving a perfusion value associated with the patient-specific tissue model; and

registering the received perfusion value to a location of the patient-specific vascular model.

15. The system of claim 9 ,

wherein the forward modeling uses the parameterized one or more locations of the pathology.

16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the pathology is a plaque.

17. A non-transitory computer readable medium for use on a computer system containing computer-executable programming instructions for analyzing patient-specific perfusion, the instructions comprising:

receiving a patient-specific vascular model associated with an individual;

receiving or determining a pathology of the patient-specific vascular model;

receiving a patient-specific tissue model associated with the individual;

identifying one or more perfusion territories within the patient-specific vascular model, using the patient-specific tissue model;

parameterizing one or more locations of the pathology within the one or more perfusion territories of the patient-specific vascular model;

using forward modeling to generate a patient-specific perfusion model by modeling a blood flow through the identified perfusion territories;

prompting a user to provide a severity of the pathology at the one or more locations; and

assessing an effect of the pathology on perfusion by modeling perfusion through portions of the one or more perfusion territories corresponding to locations of the pathology for which the user provided a severity of the pathology.

18. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17 , the instructions further comprising:

receiving a patient-specific observed perfusion value;

deforming the patient-specific vascular model based on the patient-specific perfusion model and the received patient-specific observed perfusion value;

generating an updated patient-specific vascular model based on the deformed patient-specific vascular model; and

outputting the updated patient-specific vascular model.

19. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17 ,

wherein the forward modeling uses the parameterized one or more locations of the pathology.

20. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 19 , wherein the pathology is a plaque.