Andres Caballero

PhD Proposal Presentation

Date: 08/15/2017

Time: 9:00 am

Location: Technology Enterprise Park (TEP), Room 104

Committee members: 

Wei Sun, PhD (Advisor)

Rudolph Gleason, PhD

Cyrus Aidun, PhD

Stamatios Lerakis, MD

John Oshinski, PhD

Title: Computational modeling of left ventricular-valve dynamics using a fluid-structure interaction model.

Summary: The left ventricle (LV) is a key player of the cardiovascular system. Diseases of and associated with the LV account for a large share of cardiovascular disease-related deaths. As accurate and detailed interrogation of cardiac function has been actively pursued clinically in recent years, computational modeling has emerged as a viable approach to study LV function in healthy and diseased states. Yet, most of these computational studies have either solved the fluid or structural physics alone, are limited to idealized geometries, have adopted linear elastic material properties, are focused only on a short time frame of the cardiac cycle, or have not included the complete LV apparatus. Proper left-side heart dynamics requires a balanced interplay between the LV, the left atrium, the aortic valve (AV), and the mitral valve (MV). Thus, blood flow-leaflet interaction, leaflet coaptation, and flow dynamics into and within the LV are all critical parameters to investigate; an area where a fully-coupled fluid-structure interaction (FSI) modeling is required. The central objective of this study is to model the FSI between the ventricular blood flow, the heart valves and the cardiac wall during the entire cardiac cycle in order to improve our understanding of the biomechanics of the LV-MV-AV complex under normal, diseased and repaired states. First, a novel FSI framework for modeling healthy LV-valve dynamics will be developed and validated. Next, holistic LV-valve models under various MR conditions and MV repair techniques will be built to investigate the interplay between the pathological mitral apparatus and the LV complex. Finally, the impact of transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) on pre- and post-procedural LV-valve dynamics will be investigated. The results from this study may unfold new perspectives to improve understanding of cardiovascular physiology, inform treatment strategies, support better device design, and ultimately support improved clinical outcomes.