Hemodynamic Marker Development for Borderline Left Ventricular Patients: A computational fluid dynamics and Ultrasound-Based Approach

• Applicant: Dr.-Ing. Jana Korte-Bektas
• Subject Area: Medical Physics, Biomedical Technology ; Fluid Mechanics
• Term: since 2026
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 577904012

The aim of this project is to develop a non-invasive diagnostic tool that enables individualized assessment of cardiac function in pediatric patients with congenital heart disease, focusing particularly on those with borderline left ventricle (LV) morphology. These patients present a clinical dilemma, where the decision between biventricular repair and single ventricle palliation is highly consequential but often uncertain due to limited functional information from standard imaging. While real-time 3D echocardiography is the most widely used modality in pediatric cardiology, it lacks the resolution to fully capture complex hemodynamic patterns crucial for functional assessment. This project proposes a novel translational framework that combines patient-specific computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations with ultrasound imaging to extract clinically relevant flow-based markers of cardiac performance. These markers, reflecting features such as vortex dynamics, flow efficiency, and energetic losses, are hypothesized to correlate with clinical outcomes and could enhance treatment planning without the need for invasive procedures or additional high-resource imaging modalities. The project follows three main objectives: 1. Develop and validate a patient-specific CFD model based on 3D ultrasound data, incorporating realistic boundary conditions including valve morphology and regurgitation. Validation will be performed using 4D flow MRI to ensure physiological accuracy. 2. Extract flow-based functional markers from the CFD simulations using data-driven techniques such as Proper Orthogonal Decomposition. These markers will be correlated with synthetic and clinical ultrasound data to evaluate their detectability through standard imaging. 3. Demonstrate clinical relevance through a retrospective application to a cohort of borderline LV patients. This proof-of-concept study will assess the ability of the derived markers to differentiate functional states and support clinical decision-making. The project’s innovation lies in enabling the extraction of mechanistic flow information from ultrasound alone, offering a step-change in how cardiac function is assessed. Beyond borderline LV, this approach may be transferable to other conditions such as valvular disease or heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. This research builds on the applicant’s expertise in CFD and image-based modeling and represents a strategic transition into pediatric cardiology. The Walter Benjamin Fellowship will enable the development of skills in clinical collaboration and translational cardiovascular research, supporting the applicant’s goal of establishing an independent research career at the interface of engineering and medicine.

• DFG Programme: Position