Research and Innovation

We inform our care with the following research efforts:

Basic Science and Engineering (BASE) Research Initiative

The Stanford BASE program brings together experts from multiple specialties across the Stanford University campus and its hospitals—including computational modeling, tissue engineering, genetics, and molecular biology—to create bold new solutions for children with heart disease.

Cardiovascular Biomechanics Computation Lab

The Marsden Lab at Stanford Engineering develops fundamental computational methods for the study of cardiovascular disease progression, surgical methods, treatment planning, and medical devices. It focuses on patient-specific modeling in pediatric and congenital heart disease, as well as adult cardiovascular disease. The lab bridges engineering and medicine through the department of Pediatrics, the department of Bioengineering, and the Institute for Computational and Mathematical Engineering. Research related to congenital heart disease includes exploring the ability to grow hypoplastic hearts.

Cardiovascular Engineering Research Lab

The Michael Ma Lab at the Stanford University School of Medicine studies congenital heart disease and its surgical therapies. Computational fluid dynamics and ex-vivo biomechanical simulations are utilized to inform experiments and facilitate rapid translation to the operating room for immediate patient benefit. Ongoing collaborations focus on the development of medical devices to accelerate growth in hypoplastic valves and ventricles, as well as in individual patient-tailored planning and design of upcoming heart surgery.

SimVascular Software and Vascular Model Repository

SimVascular open-source software, used by Stanford Medicine; the University of California, Berkeley; the National Science Foundation; and other respected institutions, provides a way to capture medical images and patient data to create specific blood flow simulation and analysis models. The software and repository are used to simulate cardiovascular and pulmonary solid and fluid mechanics and to provide spatially and temporally resolved benchmark solutions that are used by academic, government, and industry researchers to verify their computational methods.

Research specific to congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries (CCTGA)

At Stanford Medicine Children’s Health, we’ve been performing research related to CCTGA for nearly two decades. Our researchers study various aspects of the complex care of CCTGA patients, including:

  • Surgical methods.
  • Surgical management and outcomes.
  • Findings from imaging studies and predictors of outcomes.
  • Medical management and outcomes.
  • Biomarkers that may predict the ability of older patients to undergo successful left ventricular training.

Selected Stanford research publications on CCTGA:

  1. “Corrected transposition: Anatomic repair using the hemi-Mustard atrial baffle and bidirectional superior cavopulmonary connection.” Ma M, Mainwaring RD, Hanley FL, Semin Thorac Cardiovasc Surg Pediatr Card Surg Annu 2019;22:51–56.
  2. “Left ventricular retraining in corrected transposition: Relationship between pressure and mass.” Mainwaring RD, Patrick WL, Arunamata A, et al., J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2019.
  3. “An analysis of left ventricular retraining in patients with dextro- and levo-transposition of the great arteries.” Mainwaring RD, Patrick WL, Ibrahimiye AN, et al. Ann Thorac Surg 2018;105:823–29.
  4. “Left ventricular retraining and double switch in patients with congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries.” Ibrahimiye AN, Mainwaring RD, Patrick WL, et al. World J Pediatr Congenit Heart Surg 2017;8:203–9.
  5. “Echocardiography-derived left ventricular outflow tract gradient and left ventricular posterior wall thickening are associated with outcomes for anatomic repair in congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries.” Moodley S, Balasubramanian S, Tacy TA, et al. J Am Soc Echocardiogr 2017;30:807–14.
  6. “Double-switch repair of corrected transposition in association with criss-cross atrial morphology.” Zeigler S, Mainwaring RD, Punn R, Petrossian E, Hanley, FL, Ann Thorac Surg 2016 Mar;101(3):1208–10.
  7. “The hemi-Mustard/bidirectional Glenn atrial switch procedure in the double-switch operation for congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries: Rationale and midterm results.” Malhotra SP, Reddy VM, Qiu M, et al. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2011;141:162–70.