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Shape-informed cardiac mechanics surrogates in data-scarce regimes via geometric encoding and generative augmentation

arXiv:2602.20306v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: High-fidelity computational models of cardiac mechanics provide mechanistic insight into the heart function but are computationally prohibitive for routine clinical use. Surrogate models can accelerate simulations, but generalization across diverse anatomies is challenging, particularly in data-scarce settings. We propose a two-step framework that decouples geometric representation from learning the physics response, to enable shape-informed surrogate modeling under data-scarce conditions. First, a shape model learns a compact latent representation of left ventricular geometries. The learned latent space effectively encodes anatomies and enables synthetic geometries generation for data augmentation. Second, a neural field-based surrogate model, conditioned on this geometric encoding, is trained to predict ventricular displacement under external loading. The proposed architecture performs positional encoding by using universal ventricular

arXiv:2602.20306v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: High-fidelity computational models of cardiac mechanics provide mechanistic insight into the heart function but are computationally prohibitive for routine clinical use. Surrogate models can accelerate simulations, but generalization across diverse anatomies is challenging, particularly in data-scarce settings. We propose a two-step framework that decouples geometric representation from learning the physics response, to enable shape-informed surrogate modeling under data-scarce conditions. First, a shape model learns a compact latent representation of left ventricular geometries. The learned latent space effectively encodes anatomies and enables synthetic geometries generation for data augmentation. Second, a neural field-based surrogate model, conditioned on this geometric encoding, is trained to predict ventricular displacement under external loading. The proposed architecture performs positional encoding by using universal ventricular coordinates, which improves generalization across diverse anatomies. Geometric variability is encoded using two alternative strategies, which are systematically compared: a PCA-based approach suitable for working with point cloud representations of geometries, and a DeepSDF-based implicit neural representation learned directly from point clouds. Overall, our results, obtained on idealized and patient-specific datasets, show that the proposed approaches allow for accurate predictions and generalization to unseen geometries, and robustness to noisy or sparsely sampled inputs.

Executive Summary

This article presents a novel two-step framework for developing shape-informed cardiac mechanics surrogates in data-scarce regimes. The framework decouples geometric representation from learning the physics response, enabling the creation of compact latent representations of left ventricular geometries and synthetic geometries for data augmentation. A neural field-based surrogate model is then trained to predict ventricular displacement under external loading, conditioned on the geometric encoding. The proposed approach utilizes universal ventricular coordinates for positional encoding and explores two geometric variability encoding strategies: PCA-based and DeepSDF-based. The results demonstrate accurate predictions and generalization to unseen geometries, as well as robustness to noisy or sparsely sampled inputs. This innovative framework has significant implications for the development of robust and efficient cardiac mechanics models for clinical use.

Key Points

  • Decoupling geometric representation from learning the physics response enables shape-informed surrogate modeling.
  • Geometric variability is encoded using two alternative strategies: PCA-based and DeepSDF-based.
  • The proposed approach demonstrates accurate predictions and generalization to unseen geometries.

Merits

Innovative Framework

The proposed two-step framework offers a novel approach to developing shape-informed cardiac mechanics surrogates in data-scarce regimes, addressing a significant challenge in the field.

Improved Generalization

The use of universal ventricular coordinates and geometric variability encoding strategies enables the proposed approach to generalize across diverse anatomies, even in data-scarce settings.

Demerits

Limited Real-World Data

The study's reliance on idealized and patient-specific datasets may limit the generalizability of the results to real-world clinical settings.

Computational Complexity

The proposed framework may require significant computational resources, potentially limiting its practical application in clinical settings.

Expert Commentary

The proposed framework is a significant contribution to the field of cardiac mechanics modeling, offering a novel approach to developing shape-informed surrogates in data-scarce regimes. While the study's reliance on idealized and patient-specific datasets may limit the generalizability of the results, the use of universal ventricular coordinates and geometric variability encoding strategies demonstrates improved generalization across diverse anatomies. The study's implications for the development of robust and efficient cardiac mechanics models for clinical use are substantial, and the proposed framework has significant potential for improving the efficiency and accuracy of cardiac mechanics simulations in clinical settings.

Recommendations

  • Future studies should investigate the application of the proposed framework to real-world clinical datasets.
  • The development of more efficient computational methods for implementing the proposed framework is necessary for practical clinical application.

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