Material analysis of anatomical items

1. A computer-implemented method for medical device modeling, comprising:

accessing an electronic definition for a model of a three-dimensional item, an electronic definition of a three-dimensional anatomical item having an internal anatomical volume, and an electronic definition of a three-dimensional spline relating to the internal anatomical volume;

determining, with a computer-based finite element analysis system and using the electronic definitions, stresses created by the three-dimensional item on the anatomical item for a plurality of locations of the three-dimensional item along the three-dimensional spline, including at a first location of the three-dimensional item along the three-dimensional spline and at a second location of the three-dimensional item along the three-dimensional spline;

moving the three-dimensional item along the three-dimensional spline, and visually representing the three-dimensional item as it is moved along the three-dimensional spline; and

displaying stress data generated by the finite element analysis system with a visualization system, the display of the stress data indicating levels of stress on portions of the three-dimensional item and levels of stress on portions of the anatomical item at particular locations along the three-dimensional spline.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the three-dimensional item comprises a model of a medical device.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2 , wherein the medical device comprises a stent, and the model is formed as a cylinder having a longitudinal axis that is aligned with an axis of the three-dimensional spline curve.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more stresses are determined by a finite element solver that is external to the visualization system.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 4 , wherein the finite element solver is at a site that is separate from a site that houses the visualization system, and the finite element solver serves a plurality of different visualization systems at different sites, and communicates with the visualization systems over a network-based connection.

6. The method of claim 4 , further comprising displaying multiple stress visualizations and corresponding anatomical models side-by-side with each other for visual comparison.

7. The method of claim 1 , where the stresses are automatically determined repeatedly for different splines having different shapes in one or more anatomical models.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining, using computational fluid dynamics techniques, information describing flow characteristics for fluid flowing through the internal anatomical volume.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the information describing flow characteristics is generated by determining fluid flow around the three-dimensional item.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising identifying electrical characteristics for tissue surrounding the internal anatomical volume, and determining the stresses as a function of the electrical characteristics.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the electrical characteristics comprise electrical charge propagating over time through heart tissue as part of a cardiac cycle.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein the electrical characteristics are used to determine muscle contraction of a heart and the stresses are determined as a function of the forces exerted on and by the heart tissue.

13. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, for each particular point of a plurality of points along a path through the internal anatomical volume, automatically performing operations comprising:

generating a plurality of rays around the particular point in a common plane; and

determining lengths of each of the plurality of rays from the particular point to a boundary of the internal anatomical volume.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the internal anatomical volume is defined by a model of an anatomical item generated by operations comprising:

obtaining data that represents imaged two-dimensional slices of the anatomical item captured by one or more medical imaging systems;

generating an intermediate three-dimensional representation from points identified in the two-dimensional slices; and

generating the three-dimensional model from the intermediate three-dimensional representation.

15. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining stresses on the three-dimensional item created by forces from the motion of a heart; and

using the determined forces to display the levels of stress on the portions of the three-dimensional item.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the stress data is displayed as a four-dimensional model in which the three-dimensional item moves along the three-dimensional spline.

17. One or more machine-readable, non-transitory devices storing instructions that, when executed by one or more computer processors, perform operations comprising:

accessing an electronic definition for a model of a three-dimensional item, an electronic definition of a three-dimensional anatomical item having an internal anatomical volume, and an electronic definition of a three-dimensional spline relating to the internal anatomical volume;

determining, with a computer-based finite element analysis system and using the electronic definitions, stresses created from passing the three-dimensional item along the three-dimensional spline, for a plurality of locations of the three-dimensional item along the three-dimensional spline, including at a first location of the three-dimensional item along the three-dimensional spline and at a second location of the three-dimensional item along the three-dimensional spline;

moving the three-dimensional item along the three-dimensional spline, and visually representing the three-dimensional item as it is moved along the three-dimensional spline; and

displaying stress data generated by the finite element analysis system with a visualization system, the display of the stress data indicating levels of stress on portions of the three-dimensional item and levels of stress on portions of the anatomical item at particular locations along the three-dimensional spline.

18. The one or more devices of claim 17 , wherein the three-dimensional item comprises a model of a medical device.

19. The one or more devices of claim 18 , wherein the medical device comprises a stent, and the model is formed as a cylinder having a longitudinal axis that is aligned with an axis of the three-dimensional spline curve.

20. The one or more devices of claim 18 , further comprising identifying electrical characteristics for tissue surrounding the internal anatomical volume, and determining the stresses as a function of the electrical characteristics.

21. The one or more devices of claim 17 , wherein the one or more stresses are determined by a finite element solver that is external to the visualization system.

22. The one or more devices of claim 21 , wherein the finite element solver is at a site that is separate from a site that houses the visualization system, and the finite element solver serves a plurality of different visualization systems at different sites, and communicates with the visualization systems over a network-based connection.

23. The one or more devices of claim 17 , further comprising determining, using computational fluid dynamics techniques, information describing flow characteristics for fluid flowing through the internal anatomical volume.

24. The one or more devices of claim 17 , wherein the internal anatomical volume is defined by a model of an anatomical item generated by operations comprising:

obtaining data that represents imaged two-dimensional slices of the anatomical item captured by one or more medical imaging systems;

generating an intermediate three-dimensional representation from points identified in the two-dimensional slices; and

generating the three-dimensional model from the intermediate three-dimensional representation.

25. A computer-implemented method for medical device modeling, comprising:

accessing an electronic definition for a model of a three-dimensional item, an electronic definition for a dynamic model of motion forces generated by a heart, and an electronic definition of a three-dimensional spline relating to an anatomical item having an internal anatomical volume;

determining, with a computer-based finite element analysis system and using the electronic definitions, stresses created by the three-dimensional item along the three-dimensional spline;

moving the three-dimensional item along the three-dimensional spline, and visually representing the three-dimensional item as it is moved along the three-dimensional spline; and

displaying stress data generated by the finite element analysis system with a visualization system, the display of the stress data indicating levels of stress on portions of the anatomical item at particular locations along the three-dimensional spline.