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Updated: Jul 1, 2025
Optical Coherence Tomography Based Biomechanical Fluid-Structure Interaction Analysis of Coronary Atherosclerosis Progression
Published on: January 15, 2022
Patient-specific analysis of bicuspid aortic valve hemodynamics using a fully coupled fluid-structure interaction
Tongran Qin1, Wenbin Mao2, Andrés Caballero3
1Tissue Mechanics Laboratory, The Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA; Sutra Medical Inc, Lake Forest, CA, USA.
Bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) disease involves abnormal blood flow and aortic issues. Fluid-structure interaction simulations reveal peak velocity and flow displacement correlate with BAV’s complex hemodynamics, aiding noninvasive clinical assessment.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular Medicine
- Biomedical Engineering
- Computational Fluid Dynamics
Background:
- Bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) is the most common congenital heart defect, often leading to valvular dysfunction and ascending aortic aneurysms.
- Abnormal hemodynamics in BAV patients are increasingly recognized as a key factor in disease progression.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the complex hemodynamics associated with BAV using patient-specific simulations.
- To identify key hemodynamic metrics for noninvasive clinical evaluation of BAV.
Main Methods:
- Three-dimensional patient-specific fluid-structure interaction (FSI) simulations were employed.
- Blood flow dynamics and aortic valve motion were fully coupled throughout the cardiac cycle.
- Quantification of flow structures using vorticity, flow rate reversal ratio, and local normalized helicity (LNH).
Main Results:
- Systolic hemodynamics in BAV feature an eccentric jet, asymmetric recirculation vortices, and helical flow in the ascending aorta.
- Peak velocity and normalized flow displacement of the systolic jet showed a strong correlation with vorticity and LNH.
- Jet angle was less correlated with these complex flow patterns.
Conclusions:
- Peak velocity and normalized flow displacement are promising noninvasive metrics for assessing abnormal blood flow in BAV patients.
- These findings can improve the clinical evaluation and monitoring of BAV-related cardiovascular complications.
