Project BreathEasy using Digital Twins of Lungs to Improve COVID-19 Patient Outcomes

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Today OnScale announced Project BreathEasy, a consortium of multiphysics FEA/CFD vendors, medical device manufacturers, engineers, and doctors from around the world who are developing digital twins of the lungs of COVID-19 patients to help doctors improve patient outcomes and optimize use of limited ventilator resources in major outbreak areas.

Latest COVID-19 outbreak predictions estimate that cases will far exceed available ventilator resources by 10 times or more. COVID-19 patients die from acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), and with limited availability of ventilators in the US, maximizing per-patient utility of ventilators will be critical to saving lives. Doctors currently rely on textbook predictions of ventilator requirements, but more accurate predictions will maximize ventilator utility. Even a 10% improvement may save thousands of lives.

OnScale and LEXMA, a leading provider of advanced fluid flow and biomechanical simulation technology, have partnered to create patient-specific digital twins that may accurately predict oxygen and blood flow in a patient’s lungs, helping doctors make critical decisions about ventilator and intubation requirements for COVID-19 patients.

Each digital twin is patient-specific and built from a combination of medical images (for example from CT scans and X-rays) and thousands of simulations of lung airflow and blood flow using the LEXMA Moebius fluid dynamics solver running on OnScale’s Cloud Simulation platform. Digital twins are updated with real-time patient data. AI trained on simulated and measured patient data is used to make fast and accurate predictions of oxygen and blood flow throughout the ventilation and intubation process.

OnScale and LEXMA are currently testing the solution with medical experts and are actively seeking additional partners and advisors. For more information, contact info@projectbreatheasy.org.

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