Use of computer models in cardiovascular therapy to advance precision medicine

The complexity of living organisms has always required approaches to investigate their behaviour in a different way from those required for the study of inanimate matter. The methodologies employed in biology and medicine differ substantially from those used in physics and engineering, the former being guided by field experience and statistical approaches, while the latter is based on theory followed by field demonstration. However, these distinctions have blurred in recent decades as principles and methodologies once unique to particular scientific fields are now being applied across disciplines. This cross-disciplinary trend is perhaps best exemplified by the emergence of in silico technologies,1 which leverage computational models to investigate problems with an unprecedented level of complexity. Indeed, when coupled with imaging and molecular diagnostics, in silico technologies can provide granular information on the physiology and pathology of single individuals in a non-invasive way. Thanks to these developments, there are several examples showing how computer models are capable of predicting quantities of a specific patient that would be impossible, or very difficult, to measure directly, allowing physicians to make the best possible decision regarding the clinical management of that patient.