Model-based therapeutics for the cardiovascular system – a clinical focus

This paper focuses on clinical results of a model-based cardiac diagnosis and therapy methodology. The method allows for accurate patient specific identification and prediction of a broad range of hemodynamics typical in the critically ill. Extensive porcine experiments have been performed involving drug induced pulmonary embolism and septic shock including hemofiltration therapy. The model-based methods consistently capture all measured cardiac variables, within 5–10% error throughout the experiments. Importantly, all the physiologically expected responses to pulmonary embolism and septic shock are captured and compare well to more directly measured but highly invasive procedures. The cardiovascular system model only requires clinical data that is readily available in the Intensive Care Unit. Therefore, the results demonstrate the potential for longer term developing a cardiac diagnosis and therapeutic guidance system for use in critical care at the bedside.