Academic Healthcare SimLab
1.1

Supported Ansys versions:

2025 R1,
2025 R2

Required Product:

Fluent,
Discovery

A web-based app using Dash and PyAnsys that teaches medical simulation by automating geometry, solver setup, and visualization for comparing analytical and simulation models interactively.

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App Description

The Academic Healthcare SimLab is a browser-based educational simulation tool developed using Dash and PyAnsys. Designed for biomedical engineering & medical students, the app bridges the gap between classroom theory and real-world simulation by providing a guided, interactive environment for exploring core biomedical concepts through simulation.

Students can easily modify parameters, run simulations, and visualize results without needing deep expertise in simulation software. Key processes like geometry generation, pre-processing, and post-processing are automated, allowing students to focus on interpreting results, simulation workflow and understanding physical phenomena.

With support for common medical applications such as blood flow, drug delivery, and bioelectronics, the SimLab is modular and extensible. It incorporates dynamic plots, 3D models viewers, and comparison with analytical models to enhance conceptual understanding. Interactive explanations and integrated instructional content make the tool suitable for self-paced or classroom-based learning.

By lowering the barrier to entry into simulation tools, the app encourages curiosity, experimentation, and insight into how engineering principles apply to medical challenges.

Key Benefits

Lower Barrier to Simulation: The app abstracts away complex steps in traditional simulation workflows (geometry creation, meshing, solver setup), enabling early-year students to engage with high-impact engineering tools.
Interactivity and Engagement: With interactive graphs, sliders, 3D visualizations, and live simulation output, students are more engaged and gain a hands-on feel for abstract biomedical concepts.
Bridges Theory and Practice: By linking classroom models (e.g., equations of flow or diffusion) to simulation outcomes, the app helps students transition from analytical to computational thinking.
Time Efficiency: Automated pre/post-processing significantly reduces setup time, allowing students & instructors to focus on interpretation and analysis.
Modularity and Extensibility: The tool can be easily expanded to cover new biomedical scenarios or advanced simulation features as students’ progress through the curriculum.

Use Cases

The Academic Healthcare SimLab supports a wide range of use cases in biomedical engineering & medical education. It is particularly useful in introductory and intermediate courses focused on fluid mechanics and bio electromagnetism. With intention of expanding to biomechanics and biomaterials.

Use cases include:

Comparative Learning: Students compare analytical solutions taught in class with real-time simulation results to deepen conceptual understanding.
Lab Replacement or Supplement: The app can serve as a digital lab, allowing students to run simulations remotely or as a supplement to physical labs when equipment or time is limited.
Project-Based Learning: Students can explore “what-if” scenarios by adjusting variables like flow rate, geometry size, or material properties, promoting inquiry-based learning.
Rapid Prototyping of Biomedical Scenarios: Students and instructors can quickly set up and visualize scenarios like blood flow through vessels, drug diffusion across membranes, or airflow in respiratory pathways.
Intro to Simulation Tools: The app introduces students to simulation concepts using an intuitive interface without requiring prior experience with Ansys Fluent or Ansys Discovery.
Pre-Class or Post-Class Assignments: Instructors can assign short simulations to reinforce lecture material or assess students’ ability to apply theoretical models.
Outreach and Demonstration: The app is suitable for workshops, bootcamps, or open days where simulation-based medical engineering is showcased interactively.