Calibration and validation strategy for electromechanical cardiac digital twins

State-of-the-art cardiac electromechanical modelling and simulation form the basis for recent developments in cardiac Digital Twin technologies. However, a comprehensive evaluation of electromechanical models at cellular, tissue, and organ level has yet to be performed that addresses both ECG and pressure-volume biomarkers. Such an evaluation would build credibility for applications of cardiac Digital Twins in clinical research and therapy development.

We aimed to follow ASME V&V40 standards to develop a strategy for calibration, validation, and uncertainty quantification of ventricular electromechanical Digital Twins under healthy conditions. We performed a multi-scaled review of ventricular electromechanics to compile a dataset for calibration and validation incorporating ECG, pressure-volume, displacement, and strain biomarkers.

When applied to a biventricular multiscale model, we achieved healthy calibrated values for the QRS duration (89 ms), QT interval (360 ms), left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) (51 %), peak systolic pressure (14 kPa), end diastolic (110 mL) and end systolic volumes (50 mL), peak ejection flow rate (180 mL/ms). Model validation was performed by comparison to displacement and strain biomarkers including systolic atrioventricular plane displacement (1.5 cm), systolic fibre strain (−0.18) and longitudinal strain (−0.15). Sensitivity analysis of model parameters at cellular and ventricular scales was also performed. We quantified the effects of variability in ionic conductance, mechanical stiffness, cross-bridge cycling dynamics, and systemic circulation on action potential and active tension dynamics at the cellular scale, and on ECG, pressure-volume, displacement, and strain biomarkers at the ventricular scale. Simulations showed that the relationship between healthy LVEF and T wave biomarkers was primarily underpinned by variability in L-type calcium channel conductance and SERCA activity through multi-scale effects. In this study, we pave the way towards credible cardiac electromechanical Digital Twins by setting the basis for a strategy for calibration and validation based on both ECG and mechanical biomarkers.