Cardiac MR and biomechanical model-assisted framework for the assessment of healthy left ventricular energetics

Motivation: Establishing a baseline for cardiovascular energetics in healthy populations is crucial for comparing with disease states. However, the invasive nature of traditional pressure-volume (PV) assessments limits their applicability in healthy populations. Goal(s): The aim was to assess healthy left ventricular (LV) energetics from noninvasively reconstructed PV loops using cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) and arterial pressure data. Approach: A biomechanical model provided patient-specific PV loops for 20 healthy LVs. Stroke work, ventricular elastance, and ventricular-arterial coupling were computed. Results: LV functional metrics derived by the proposed noninvasive technique were consistent with those previously published using invasive PV loops. Impact: The framework enables noninvasive PV loop assessment, providing a new tool for evaluating cardiac energetics in healthy individuals. This can improve our understanding of cardiovascular health and serve as a reference for identifying deviations in affected populations.