scholarly journals Blood Damage Through a Bileaflet Mechanical Heart Valve: A Quantitative Computational Study Using a Multiscale Suspension Flow Solver

2014 ◽  
Vol 136 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Min Yun ◽  
Cyrus K. Aidun ◽  
Ajit P. Yoganathan

Bileaflet mechanical heart valves (BMHVs) are among the most popular prostheses to replace defective native valves. However, complex flow phenomena caused by the prosthesis are thought to induce serious thromboembolic complications. This study aims at employing a novel multiscale numerical method that models realistic sized suspended platelets for assessing blood damage potential in flow through BMHVs. A previously validated lattice-Boltzmann method (LBM) is used to simulate pulsatile flow through a 23 mm St. Jude Medical (SJM) Regent™ valve in the aortic position at very high spatiotemporal resolution with the presence of thousands of suspended platelets. Platelet damage is modeled for both the systolic and diastolic phases of the cardiac cycle. No platelets exceed activation thresholds for any of the simulations. Platelet damage is determined to be particularly high for suspended elements trapped in recirculation zones, which suggests a shift of focus in blood damage studies away from instantaneous flow fields and toward high flow mixing regions. In the diastolic phase, leakage flow through the b-datum gap is shown to cause highest damage to platelets. This multiscale numerical method may be used as a generic solver for evaluating blood damage in other cardiovascular flows and devices.

Author(s):  
B. Min Yun ◽  
Lakshmi P. Dasi ◽  
Cyrus K. Aidun ◽  
Ajit P. Yoganathan

Prosthetic heart valves have been used for over 50 years to replace diseased native valves but still lead to severe complications such as platelet aggregation and thromboembolic events. The most widely implanted design is the bileaflet mechanical heart valve (BMHV). Most modern BMHV designs have better flow hemodynamics and blood damage performance than earlier-generation counterparts. However, blood element trauma and thromboembolic events still remain as major complications of current BMHV designs. These problems have been linked to blood damage caused by non-physiological stresses. These stresses are caused by the complex flow fields that arise due to prosthetic heart valve design. In order to reduce the severity of these complications, the blood damage that occurs in flows through prosthetic heart valves must be well understood.


Author(s):  
B. Min Yun ◽  
Jingshu Wu ◽  
Cyrus K. Aidun ◽  
Ajit P. Yoganathan

Prosthetic heart valves have been used for over 50 years to replace diseased native valves but still lead to severe complications such as hemolysis, platelet aggregation, and thromboembolic events. The most widely implanted design is the bileaflet mechanical heart valve (BMHV). Most modern BMHV designs have better flow hemodynamics and blood damage performance than their earlier-generation counterparts. However, blood element trauma and thromboembolic events still remain as major complications of current BMHV designs. These problems have been linked to blood element damage caused by non-physiological stresses. These stresses are caused by the complex flow fields that arise due to prosthetic heart valve design, particularly in the leaflet hinge region. In order to reduce the severity of these complications, the blood damage that occurs in flows through prosthetic heart valves must be well understood.


2014 ◽  
Vol 754 ◽  
pp. 122-160 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Min Yun ◽  
L. P. Dasi ◽  
C. K. Aidun ◽  
A. P. Yoganathan

AbstractProsthetic heart valves have been widely used to replace diseased or defective native heart valves. Flow through bileaflet mechanical heart valves (BMHVs) have previously demonstrated complex phenomena in the vicinity of the valve owing to the presence of two rigid leaflets. This study aims to accurately capture the complex flow dynamics for pulsatile flow through a 23 mm St Jude Medical (SJM) Regent™ BMHV. The lattice-Boltzmann method (LBM) is used to simulate pulsatile flow through the valve with the inclusion of reverse leakage flow at very high spatiotemporal resolution that can capture fine details in the pulsatile BMHV flow field. For higher-Reynolds-number flows, this high spatiotemporal resolution captures features that have not been observed in previous coarse resolution studies. In addition, the simulations are able to capture with detail the features of leaflet closing and the asymmetric b-datum leakage jet during mid-diastole. Novel flow physics are visualized and discussed along with quantification of turbulent features of this flow, which is made possible by this parallelized numerical method.


2014 ◽  
Vol 136 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian H. Jun ◽  
Neelakantan Saikrishnan ◽  
Sivakkumar Arjunon ◽  
B. Min Yun ◽  
Ajit P. Yoganathan

The hinge regions of the bileaflet mechanical heart valve (BMHV) can cause blood element damage due to nonphysiological shear stress levels and regions of flow stasis. Recently, a micro particle image velocimetry (μPIV) system was developed to study whole flow fields within BMHV hinge regions with enhanced spatial resolution under steady leakage flow conditions. However, global velocity maps under pulsatile conditions are still necessary to fully understand the blood damage potential of these valves. The current study hypothesized that the hinge gap width will affect flow fields in the hinge region. Accordingly, the blood damage potential of three St. Jude Medical (SJM) BMHVs with different hinge gap widths was investigated under pulsatile flow conditions, using a μPIV system. The results demonstrated that the hinge gap width had a significant influence during the leakage flow phase in terms of washout and shear stress characteristics. During the leakage flow, the largest hinge gap generated the highest Reynolds shear stress (RSS) magnitudes (∼1000 N/m2) among the three valves at the ventricular side of the hinge. At this location, all three valves indicated viscous shear stresses (VSS) greater than 30 N/m2. The smallest hinge gap exhibited the lowest level of shear stress values, but had the poorest washout flow characteristics among the three valves, demonstrating propensity for flow stasis and associated activated platelet accumulation potential. The results from this study indicate that the hinge is a critical component of the BMHV design, which needs to be optimized to find the appropriate balance between reduction in fluid shear stresses and enhanced washout during leakage flow, to ensure minimal thrombotic complications.


SIMULATION ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 96 (5) ◽  
pp. 459-469
Author(s):  
Belkhiri Khellaf ◽  
Boumeddane Boussad

In this paper, we perform a numerical analysis for simulating steady, two-dimensional, laminar blood flow through our proposed design, known as the Butterfly mechanical heart valve, where the leaflets are fully opened. Blood has been assumed to be Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluid using the Casson model for shear-thinning behavior. A non-uniform Cartesian grid generation technique is presented to generate a two-dimensional grid for the irregular geometry of the Butterfly valve. The governing Navier–Stokes equations of flow, written in a stream function–vorticity formulation, are solved by the finite difference method with hybrid differencing of the convective terms. The computed results show that the blood’s non-Newtonian nature significantly affects the flow field with the existence of recirculation and consequently stagnation causing thrombus formation, as well as an increase of the shear stress along the wall, which contributes to hemolytic blood damage. The results demonstrate that the model is capable of predicting the hemodynamic features most interesting to physiologists. It can be used to assess thromboembolic problems occurring with heart valves and in the design of cardiac prostheses.


CFD letters ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 69-79
Author(s):  
Nursyaira Mohd Salleh ◽  
Mohamad Shukri Zakaria ◽  
Mohd Juzaila Abd Latif ◽  
Adi Azriff Basri

Artificial heart valves for replacing diseased indigenous heart valves were widely used. The treatment of certain types of heart disease requires mechanical valves to be implanted operatively. Healthy cardiac valves are essential to proper cardiac function. The current study presents an investigation of the pulsatile blood flow through a bileaflet mechanical heart valve (BMHV) with a vortex generator (VG) in fully open position. A St. Jude Medical Regent valve with a diameter of 23 mm was used to mount triangular VGs as a means of improving pressure gradients and reducing turbulence. The anatomic aorta and axisymmetric aorta was computed by large eddy simulation (LES) approached. The implications for both models with VGs were observed in terms of velocity magnitude, vortices and wall shear stress. The results suggested that the anatomic aorta is prone to develop more blood clotting at the leading edge of the leaflets with 2.03 m/s. Furthermore, the anatomic aorta produces higher wall shear stress with 69Pa, which possibly contributes to a high risk of thrombosis.


Author(s):  
B. Min Yun ◽  
Cyrus K. Aidun ◽  
Ajit P. Yoganathan

A numerical suspension flow solver is presented that can accurately quantify blood damage in cardiovascular flows. This method is capable of high spatiotemporal resolution simulations with optimal parallel computing. In addition, the method models realistic platelets for more accurate damage quantification compared to alternative methods. The numerical tool is tested on a baseline case of a St. Jude Medical bileaflet mechanical heart valve, and blood damage results are analyzed in both Lagrangian and Eulerian viewpoints.


2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fardin Khalili ◽  
Peshala Gamage ◽  
Richard Sandler ◽  
Hansen Mansy

Artificial heart valves may dysfunction, leading to thrombus and/or pannus formations. Computational fluid dynamics is a promising tool for improved understanding of heart valve hemodynamics that quantify detailed flow velocities and turbulent stresses to complement Doppler measurements. This combined information can assist in choosing optimal prosthesis for individual patients, aiding in the development of improved valve designs, and illuminating subtle changes to help guide more timely early intervention of valve dysfunction. In this computational study, flow characteristics around a bileaflet mechanical heart valve were investigated. The study focused on the hemodynamic effects of leaflet immobility, specifically, where one leaflet does not fully open. Results showed that leaflet immobility increased the principal turbulent stresses (up to 400%), and increased forces and moments on both leaflets (up to 600% and 4000%, respectively). These unfavorable conditions elevate the risk of blood cell damage and platelet activation, which are known to cascade to more severe leaflet dysfunction. Leaflet immobility appeared to cause maximal velocity within the lateral orifices. This points to the possible importance of measuring maximal velocity at the lateral orifices by Doppler ultrasound (in addition to the central orifice, which is current practice) to determine accurate pressure gradients as markers of valve dysfunction.


2008 ◽  
Vol 130 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Luke H. Herbertson ◽  
Steven Deutsch ◽  
Keefe B. Manning

The closing behavior of mechanical heart valves is dependent on the design of the valve and its housing, the valve composition, and the environment in which the valve is placed. One innovative approach for improving the closure dynamics of tilting disk valves is introduced here. We transformed a normal Delrin occluder into one containing a ”dynamic liquid core” to resist acceleration and reduce the moment of inertia, closing velocity, and impact forces of the valve during closure. The modified occluder was studied in the mitral position of a simulation chamber under the physiologic and elevated closing conditions of 2500 mm Hg/s and 4500 mm Hg/s, respectively. Cavitation energy, detected as high-frequency pressure transients with a hydrophone, was the measure used to compare the modified valve with its unaltered counterpart. The cavitation potential of tilting disk valves is indicative of the extent of blood damage occurring during valve closure. Initial findings suggest that changes to the structure or physical properties of well established mechanical valves, such as the one described here, can reduce closure induced hemolysis by minimizing cavitation. Compared with a normal valve, the cavitation intensity associated with our modified valve was reduced by more than 66% at the higher load. Furthermore, the modified valve took longer to completely close than did the standard tilting disk valve, indicating a dampened impact and rebound of the occluder with its housing.


Author(s):  
M J King ◽  
T David ◽  
J Fisher

The effect of leaflet opening angle on flow through a bileaflet mechanical heart valve has been investigated using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). Steady state, laminar flow for a Newtonian fluid at a Reynolds number of 1500 was used in the two-dimensional model of the valve, ventricle, sinus and aorta. This computational model was verified using one-dimensional laser Doppler velocimetry (LDV). Although marked differences in the flow fields and energy dissipation of the jets downstream of the valve were found between the CFD predictions and the three-dimensional experimental model, both methods showed similar trends in the changes of the flow fields as the leaflet opening angle was altered. As the opening angle increased the area of recirculating fluid downstream of the leaflets, the pressure drop across the valve and the volumetric flow rate through the outer orifice decreased. For opening angles greater than 80° the jet through the outer orifice recombined with the central jet downstream of the leaflet; for an opening angle of 78° the jet through the outer orifice impinged on the aortic wall before recombining with the central jet. This study suggests that the opening angle has a marked effect on the flow downstream of the bileaflet mechanical heart valve and that valves with opening angles greater than 80° are preferable.


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