Aortic valve mechanics--Part I: material properties of natural porcine aortic valves

A new methodology has been developed whereby the inhomogeneous and anisotropic aspects of an irregularly surfaced organ component have been incorporated in establishing the material properties of its tissue. Specifically the direction-dependent post-transition elastic moduli have been calculated from microtensile experiments for the porcine aortic valve leaflets with an average of ECIRC/ERAD = 3.2. Furthermore pressure-strain data have been measured for a grid of points on the surface of a porcine aortic valve and an isostrain map has been developed for P = 80 mm. Hg. These data are used for the stress analysis of porcine aortic valves which is the subject of a companion paper.