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Published on: October 18, 2013
Numerical simulation of cardiovascular dynamics with healthy and diseased heart valves
Theodosios Korakianitis1, Yubing Shi
1Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK. t.alexander@mech.gla.ac.uk
Insights
This study introduces a new cardiovascular model with advanced heart valve dynamics. The model accurately simulates healthy and diseased states, improving understanding of cardiovascular function.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular Dynamics
- Biomedical Engineering
- Computational Physiology
Background:
- Cardiovascular models are crucial for understanding heart function and disease.
- Existing models often lack detailed heart valve dynamics.
- Accurate simulation of circulation and heart chambers is essential.
Purpose of the Study:
- To present a novel concentrated parameter model for cardiovascular dynamics.
- To incorporate an innovative heart valve dynamics model.
- To simulate cardiovascular function in healthy and pathological conditions.
Main Methods:
- Developed a cardiovascular model integrating heart chambers (variable elastance) and circulation loops (Windkessel models).
- Derived a differential equation for heart valve motion, considering blood pressure, tissue friction, blood motion, and blood vortex effects.
- Utilized the model for simulations of healthy and pathological cardiovascular states.
Main Results:
- The model successfully simulates cardiovascular dynamics, including complex heart valve motion.
- Simulations of mitral valve stenosis and aortic regurgitation showed good agreement with established data.
- The inclusion of blood vortex effects enhances the accuracy of valve dynamics modeling.
Conclusions:
- The proposed concentrated parameter model offers a significant advancement in cardiovascular simulation.
- The innovative heart valve model provides a more comprehensive understanding of valvular function.
- This model serves as a valuable tool for research in cardiovascular physiology and pathology.
Abstract:
This paper presents a new concentrated parameter model for cardiovascular dynamics that includes an innovative model of heart valve dynamics, which is embedded in the overall model of the four chambers of the heart and the systemic and pulmonary circulation loops. The heart chambers are described with a variable elastance model, and the systemic and pulmonary loops are described with modified Windkessel models. In modelling the heart valve dynamics, the various factors that influence the valve motion are examined, and the governing differential equation for valve motion is derived. The heart valve model includes the influence of the blood pressure effect, the friction effect from the tissue, and from blood motion. As improvement from previous works, the contribution of the blood vortex effect in the vicinity of the valve leaflets to valve motion is specially considered. The proposed model is then used in simulation of healthy and certain pathological conditions such as mitral valve stenosis and aortic regurgitation. The predicted results agree well with results illustrated in cardiology textbooks.
