Does clinical data quality affect fluid-structure interaction simulations of patient-specific stenotic aortic valve...

Area of Science:

• Cardiovascular biomechanics
• Medical imaging analysis
• Computational fluid dynamics

Background:

• Numerical models are vital for cardiovascular device and treatment development.
• Patient-specific models for transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) are increasingly common.
• Accurate patient anatomy and conditions are crucial for reliable simulations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantify the impact of routine clinical data quality on numerical models of stenotic aortic valves.
• To assess the sensitivity of fluid-structure interaction (FSI) simulations to variations in patient-specific data.

Main Methods:

• Performed seven fluid-structure interaction (FSI) simulations.
• Conducted a sensitivity analysis on reconstructed patient geometries and boundary conditions.
• Included aortic root, native tri-leaflets valve, and calcifications in structural models; applied ventricular and aortic pressure curves.

Main Results:

• Aortic valve area differences were <2% but reached 12% with altered boundary conditions/geometries.
• Aortic stenosis jet velocity differences were <11% but reached 27% with altered geometry.
• CT slice thickness emerged as the most sensitive parameter in the FSI model.

Conclusions:

• The quality of routine clinical data significantly affects the accuracy of patient-specific cardiovascular FSI models.
• Careful segmentation and reconstruction are essential for creating truthful patient-specific domains for FSI analysis.
• Optimizing data quality is critical for reliable simulation of conditions like aortic stenosis.