The opening ceremony of the Virtual Physiological Human (VPH) conference was something special, it featured a lecture-performance with our physiologically based dancing digital twins. The VPH Institute has now published a news letter were you can read more about the development of the digital twins for the past 20 years, and more about the future visions for using them within biomedical teaching and patient-centric care.
“Take your digital twin with you throughout your health journey: from dance performances to patient-centric, preventive healthcare” For link click HERE
The 21st International Conference on Systems Biology (ICSB 2022) was held in Berlin, Germany, these past few days. We had a great time there and had the opportunity to meet great people, take part in interesting discussions, and see some of Berlin. During the conference, we presented several posters and gave some talks (summarized below). We would like to extend our thanks to the ICSB committee for a well-organized conference. Until next time, from the ISB group.
The full program can be found here: https://www.icsb2022.berlin/, and down below is a summary of our contributions.
M4-health: digital twins that follow you throughout your health journey, Gunnar Cedersund
Authors: Gunnar Cedersund
An interconnected multi-level mechanistic model of the human brain, Nicolas Sundqvist
Authors: Nicolas Sundqvist, Henrik Podéus, Malin Ejneby Silverå, Sebastian Sten, Salvador Dura-Bernal, Soroush Safaei, Maria Engström and Gunnar Cedersund
Digital twins and hybrid modelling for simulation of physiological variables and stroke risk, Tilda Herrgårdh
Authors: Tilda Herrgårdh, Elizabeth Hunter, Kajsa Tunedal, John D. Kelleher and Gunnar Cedersund
Insights on hemodynamic changes in hypertension and T2D through non-invasive cardiovascular modeling, Kajsa Tunedal
Authors: Kajsa Tunedal, Carl-Johan Carlhäll, Federica Viola, Tino Ebbers and Gunnar Cedersund
Mathematical modeling of cytokine interplay in human monocytes during LPS stimulation, Niloofar Nikaein
Authors: Niloofar Nikaein, Kedeye Tuerxun, Daniel Eklund, Alexander Persson, Robert Kruse, Eva Särndahl, Eewa Nånberg, Antje Thonig, Gunnar Cedersund, Elin Nyman, Dirk Repsilber and On Behalf Of The X-Hide Consortium
Connecting the Neurovascular coupling and Electrophysiological signaling – a modeling approach, Henrik Podéus
Authors: Henrik Podéus, Gunnar Cedersund and Salvador Dura-Bernal
An in silico resection to estimate global and regional hepatobiliary function in patients undergoing hepatectomy, Christian Simonsson
Authors: Christian Simonsson, Wolf Claus Bartholomä, Anna Lindhoff Larsson, Markus Karlsson, Bengt Norén, Gunnar Cedersund, Nils Dahlström, Per Sandström and Peter Lundberg
A comprehensive mechanistic model of adipocyte signaling with layers of confidence, William Lövfors
Authors: William Lövfors, Cecilia Jönsson, Charlotta S. Olofsson, Gunnar Cedersund and Elin Nyman
We recently attended the International Study Group for Systems Biology (ISGSB) 2022 conference where we gave two talks. Our first talk was given by Gunnar Cedersund and was on how we can use M4-models and digital twin tools to help patients on their health journey throughout various aspects of their lives. The second talk was given by Nicolas Sundqvist and was on our efforts to develop an interconnected multi-level mechanistic model of the human brain. The conference was a success as we partook in interesting discussions and offered our contributions to the ISGSB community. On another fun note, our poster designed and presented by Nicolas Sundqvist was voted joint best poster of the conference. We are looking forward to the next iteration of the ISGSB conference.
Silfvergren O, Simonsson C, Ekstedt M, Lundberg P, Gennemark P, Cedersund G. Digital twin predicting diet response before and after long-term fasting. PLoS Comput Biol. 2022 Sep 12;18(9):e1010469. doi: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1010469.
ABSTRACT
“Fasting and diet are central components of prevention against cardiovascular disease. Unfortunately, there is little consensus regarding which diet schemes are optimal. This is partially because different clinical studies contribute with different non-connected pieces of knowledge, which have not been fully integrated into a useful and interconnected big picture. In principle, mathematical models describing meal responses could be used for such an integration. However, today’s models still lack critical mechanisms, such as protein metabolism and a dynamic glycogen regulation. Herein, we present a) a new expanded model structure including these mechanisms; b) a set of parameters which can simultaneously describe a wide array of complementary estimation data, in both healthy and diabetic populations; c) a personalisation-script, which allows these generic parameters to be tuned to an individual/sub-population, using demographics (age, weight, height, diabetes status) and historic metabolic data. We exemplify how this personalisation can be used to predict new independent data, including a new clinical study, where a qualitatively new prediction is validated: that an oral protein tolerance test gives a clear response in plasma glucose, after, but not before, a 48h fasting period. Our combined model, parameters, and fitting script lay the foundation for an offline digital twin.”
A while back we made our expanded brain model, capable of describing and predicting various multi-species data, available on bioRxiv (https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.03.25.437053). After some further work we are aiming to submit our work, In the meanwhile feel free to take part of the currently available version.
Abstract: The neurovascular coupling (NVC) forms the foundation for functional imaging techniques of the brain, since NVC connects neural activity with observable hemodynamic changes. Many aspects of the NVC have been studied both experimentally and with mathematical models: various combinations of blood volume and flow, electrical activity, oxygen saturation measures, blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) response, and optogenetics have been measured and modeled in rodents, primates, or humans. We now present a first inter-connected mathematical model that describes all such data types simultaneously. The model can predict independent validation data not used for training. Using simulations, we show for example how complex bimodal behaviors appear upon stimulation. These simulations thus demonstrate how our new quantitative model, incorporating most of the core aspects of the NVC, can be used to mechanistically explain each of its constituent datasets.
Overview of the presented study: A: Cellular pathways underlying the neurovascular coupling (NVC). B. Overview of commonly used experimental techniques C. Overview of the study D. Comparison of different published models describing the NVC with regards to different mechanisms
Unique collaboration between the Swedish researcher and pianist Gunnar Cedersund and choreographer and dancer Julia Bengtsson fuses digital twin technology and visualization with dance and music
Nu är programmet för Almedalen ute, och vi kommer att dyka upp i diskussioner kring den Digitala Tvillingen på måndag den 5 juli kl 13.15-14.00. Missa inte! Konferensen är digital så du kan se den bekvämt hemifrån soffan.
Our work
with the new digital twin technology – an interactive computer model,
describing the multi-organ, and multi-timescale biochemistry and physiology of
a specific person – has now led to a first prototype which is almost ready to
be tested in a clinical environment. However, to be able to do that, we need to
have suitable user interface, and this is where you come in!
In english:
“We are looking for someone experienced in working with
programming, visualisation, software architecture, and user friendliness.
Submitting a sample of previous work with you application will increase your
chances, in particular apps and software projects that includes visualisation.
You are interested in design and you are an attentive listener who can work in
a group setting to interpret the best solution to what researchers, clinical
personnel and private users need.
Your tasks will primarily be development of the front-end
software for research and clinical environments, focusing on visualisation and
app-design. ISB group at IMT have developed a so called Digital Twin, computer
model copies of a patient, which will function as support for the Health
Conversation. We have a few previously developed prototypes, but now we need
someone to help us make a version with a user interface suitable for testing in
clinical studies. You will work mostly with the coding of the software, but
some design and user interaction and evaluation is also included.”
På svenska:
“Vi söker nu någon som har erfarenhet av att arbeta
med programmering, visualisering, mjukvaruarkitetktur och användarvänlighet.
Tidigare arbetsprov av egna utvecklade appar och andra mjukvaruprojekt,
speciellt sådana som inkluderar en visualiseringskomponent, är en viktig del av
bedömningen. Du är antagligen intresserad av design och en god lyssnare som kan
arbeta i grupp och tolka vad både forskare, vårdpersonal och privata användare
behöver.
Dina arbetsuppgifter kommer bestå i framför allt arbete
med att utveckla front-end mjukvara för en vetenskaplig och klinisk miljö, med
fokus på visualisering och app-design. I ISB-group på IMT har vi utvecklat en
så kallad Digital Tvilling, datorkopior av en patient, som ska fungera som stöd
i vårdens hälsosamtal. Vi har tidigare utvecklat ett par prototyper, men
behöver nu någon som gör en första mer färdig version av användargränssnittet
att testa i kliniska studier. Du kommer att arbeta mycket med själva
kodningen av mjukvaran, men en del design och användarinteraktion ingår
också. “
If you have any
questions, please contact Karin Lundengård at karin.lundengard@liu.se
