SIMULATIONS OF BIOPROSTHETIC HEART VALVE DYNAMICS USING A SHARP INTERFACE METHOD

摘要

Bioprosthetic heart valves are valve replacements constructed from animal tissue. They are deformable and offer similar mechanical properties to their native counterpart. While tearing of these valves is frequently observed, it is still not fully understood, but may be the result of high induced bending and shear stresses in the valve leaflets[1]. To improve the understanding of bioprosthetic heart valve failure, it is necessary to develop a fully integrated computer model that incorporates the dynamics of the valve leaflet and the surrounding blood under normal physiologic conditions. This type of computation requires a fluid-structure interaction (FSI) algorithm capable of handling the high deformation of the valve leaflet and its correspondingly complex geometry as it opens and closes due to pressure changes during the course of the cardiac cycle. A FSI approach enables an accurate solution of stresses within the valve leaflet by simultaneously computing blood flow and deformation of the valve leaflet. The goal of this project is to improve the efficiency, stability and robustness of FSI techniques. In doing so, a computational method has been developed that is appropriate for solving numerous problems, and is particularly suited for the simulation of a bioprosthetic heart valve throughout the cardiac cycle.