On February 13, 2025, at SISSA, Trieste (Italy), the ROMed2VR team showcased their innovative work at the Riunione Plenaria Spoke 9 iNEST. This event highlighted the projects selected under the “Bandi a Cascata Spoke 9”, bringing together key players in medical simulation, computational modeling, and virtual reality.
Representing InSilicoTrials, Vincenzo Carbone, PhD presented how Reduced Order Models (ROM) and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) are being integrated with Virtual Reality (VR) to support pre-surgical planning in neonatal cardiovascular surgery. The ROMed2VR project addresses a critical challenge: improving surgical outcomes for congenital heart defects, particularly in procedures like the modified Blalock-Taussig shunt (mBTS).

𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐞𝐝2𝐕𝐑 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡?
🔹 It aims to develop a framework for real-time patient-specific ROM evaluations, leveraging VR-assisted visualization to support surgical planning.
🔹 It explores ways to simplify computational workflows, reducing the dependency on complex, time-intensive CFD simulations for hemodynamic analyses.
🔹 It lays the foundation for bridging the gap between research and clinical application, advancing the potential of insilico medicine in cardiovascular surgery.

𝐖𝐡𝐨’𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐞𝐝2𝐕𝐑?
The project is a collaborative effort involving:
🔹𝐄𝐍𝐆𝐘𝐒 – Project leader, overseeing methodology and CFD-based modelling development.
🔹𝐑𝐁𝐅 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐩𝐡 – Responsible for the VR environment and RBF mesh morphing.
🔹𝐈𝐧𝐒𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐨𝐓𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐬 – Leading the evaluation and commercialization, ensuring the system meets regulatory and market needs.
🔹𝐅𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐓𝐨𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐚 𝐆𝐚𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐞 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨 – Providing expertise in cardiovascular medicine and numerical simulations for the mBTS procedure.

During the project the team will also be assessing the feasibility of integrating ROMed2VR into cloud-based platforms, ensuring regulatory compliance, and expanding collaborations to accelerate adoption in clinical settings.

You can download the presentation here.