Simulating heart valve mechanical behavior for planning surgical repair.
Hammer, Peter.
2011
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Abstract: Heart valves are functionally complex, making surgical repair
difficult. Simulation-based surgical planning could facilitate repair, but current finite
element (FE) studies are prohibitively slow for rapid, clinically-oriented simulations. An
anisotropic, nonlinear mass-spring (M-S) model is presented to approximate the membrane
behavior of heart valve leaflet tissue, and it is coupl... read moreed with a fast method for simulating
valve dynamics. An efficient FE model is also described for simulating valve leaflets. The
speed-accuracy tradeoff between the FE and M-S models is quantified so that the strength of
each method can be leveraged where appropriate. The FE model is applied to study a
generalized aortic valve repair technique that incorporates graft material into the native
valve, where the graft has significantly different mechanical properties than native
leaflets. Results show that the graft must be larger than the native leaflets and predicts
optimal graft height and width. The M-S method is applied to fully image-based models of
the mitral valve to simulate valve closure and loading for fast applications like
intraoperative surgical planning. This model is used to simulate a technique used in valve
repair and to assess the importance of chordae in determining the closed configuration of
the valve. Direct image-based comparison was used for validation. Results of M-S model
simulations showed that it is possible to build fully image-based models of the mitral
valve and to rapidly simulate closure with sub-millimeter accuracy. Chordae, which are
presently difficult to image, are shown to be strong determinants of the closed valve
shape.
Thesis (Ph.D.)--Tufts University, 2011.
Submitted to the Dept. of Biomedical Engineering.
Advisors: Sergio Fantini, and Robert Howe.
Committee: Benjamin Perlman, Mark Cronin-Golomb, and Pedro del Nido.
Keywords: Biomedical Engineering, Biomechanics, and Mechanical Engineering.read less - ID:
- s7526q861
- Component ID:
- tufts:20847
- To Cite:
- DCA Citation Guide EndNote
