Numerical simulations of blood flow in artificial and natural hearts with fluid-structure interaction

This article describes two ongoing numerical studies of fluid-structure interaction in the cardiovascular system: an idealized pulsatile ventricular assist device (VAD), consisting of two fluid chambers separated by a flexible diaphragm; and blood flow and heart wall motion during passive filling of a canine heart. Simulations have been performed for the VAD and compared with the results of a previous study and to our own preliminary experimental results. Detailed measurements of the flow field in the VAD model and additional simulations are in progress. Preliminary simulations using both an idealized model of the natural heart as well as a realistic model have identified the limitations of the current numerical methods in dealing with large three-dimensional deformations. Ongoing research aims at extending the range of simulations to include large deformations and to incorporate an anisotropic material model for the heart wall to account for the muscle fibers.