Facilitating Reproducible in Silico Experiments with openCARP: A Step toward FAIR and Open Science in Cardiac Electrophysiology

Marie Houillon1, Jorge Sánchez2, Matthias Gsell3, Aurel Neic4, Anton J Prassl3, Gunnar Seemann5, Gernot Plank3, Edward Vigmond6, Axel Loewe7
1Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, 2ITACA Institute, Universidad Politècnica de València, 3Medical University of Graz, 4NumeriCor GmbH, 5University Heart Center Freiburg • Bad Krozingen, 6LIRYC - University of Bordeaux, 7Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)


Abstract

While the philosophy of Open Science advocates accessibility and reusability of scientific outcomes, it can be challenging to apply these principles in computational studies, as research software is by nature modular and changing over time.

This work aims to make it easy for researchers to create cardiac electrophysiology in silico experiments that can be shared and reproduced by other researchers, as well as published in persistent research data repositories.

For this purpose, we have implemented a feature in the openCARP cardiac electrophysiology simulation ecosystem, which allows users to create self-contained simulation bundles in a standardized structured format with related metadata. These bundles can then easily be shared and run on other platforms. A service for releasing experiments on the persistent research data repository RADAR is also provided. Thanks to this bundle feature, several openCARP simulation workflows were released in persistent research repositories already cited in subsequent publications.

We believe that this tool will help promoting good practices in computational research by facilitating the publication of simulation workflows in accordance with the Open Science principles.