An improved flow evaluation scheme in orifices of different aspect ratios

An accurate and reliable method of regurgitant flow calculation is currently unavailable. The goal of this study was to define a new general method of flow calculation for orifices of different aspect ratios. The success of the method relies on matching the imaged flow field distribution obtained by color flow mapping (CFM) to a three-dimensional (3D) numerical flow field distribution of known geometry. The flow field in three orifices of identical cross-sectional area with aspect ratios of 1 (circular), 2 and 4 (elliptical) was evaluated by: (a) CFM, (b) 3D echocardiographic imaging, and (c) 3D finite element modeling (FEM). The orifice shape and size were accurately estimated by 3D echocardiographic imaging. FEM showed that the normalized centerline velocity profile of the flow field depends on the orifice aspect ratio. CFM provided a good description of the centerline profile for each case. For a given distance from the orifice center, the equivelocity contour surface area increases with increasing aspect ratio. A simple flow calculation scheme was developed to calculate regurgitant flow independent of orifice shape. This improved method showed better results than previous studies and may prove to be advantageous when analyzing in vivo flow fields with complex geometries.