The emergence of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) enabled the simulation of intricate transport processes, including flow in physiological structures, such as blood vessels. While these so-called hemodynamic simulations offer groundbreaking opportunities to solve problems at the clinical forefront, a successful translation of CFD to clinical decision-making is challenging. Hemodynamic simulations are intrinsically complex, time-consuming, and resource-intensive, which conflicts with the time-sensitive nature of clinical workflows and the fact that hospitals usually do not have the necessary resources or infrastructure to support CFD simulations. To address these transfer challenges, we propose a novel visualization system which enables instant flow exploration without performing on-site simulation. To gain insights into the viability of the approach, we focus on hemodynamic simulations of the carotid bifurcation, which is a highly relevant arterial subtree in stroke diagnostics and prevention. We created an initial database of 120 high-resolution carotid bifurcation flow models and developed a set of similarity metrics used to place a new carotid surface model into a neighborhood of simulated cases with the highest geometric similarity. The neighborhood can be immediately explored and the flow fields analyzed. We found that if the artery models are similar enough in the regions of interest, a new simulation leads to coinciding results, allowing the user to circumvent individual flow simulations. We conclude that similarity-based visual analysis is a promising approach toward the usability of CFD in medical practice.

翻译：计算流体力学的出现使得模拟复杂的输运过程成为可能，包括血管等生理结构中的血流。尽管这类所谓的血流动力学模拟为解决临床前沿问题提供了突破性机遇，但将CFD成功转化为临床决策仍面临挑战。血流动力学模拟本质上复杂、耗时且资源密集，这与临床工作流程对时效性的要求存在矛盾，同时医院通常缺乏支持CFD模拟所需的资源或基础设施。为应对这些转化挑战，我们提出了一种新型可视化系统，无需现场模拟即可实现瞬时血流探索。为验证该方法的可行性，我们聚焦于颈动脉分叉处的血流动力学模拟——这是中风诊断与预防中极具临床相关性的动脉分支。我们构建了包含120个高分辨率颈动脉分叉血流模型的初始数据库，并开发了一套相似性度量指标，用于将新的颈动脉表面模型定位至几何相似度最高的模拟案例邻域中。该邻域可立即被探索，血流场也可被分析。研究发现，若动脉模型在感兴趣区域具有足够高的相似性，则新模拟得出的结果与既有结果一致，从而使用户能够规避独立的血流模拟。我们得出结论：基于相似性的可视化分析是推动CFD在医疗实践中应用的有效途径。