Qian Wang
PhD Defense Presentation
Date: Wednesday, November 5th, 2014
Time: 12:30pm
Location: TEP 104

Advisor: Wei Sun, PhD
Committee Members:
Ajit Yoganathan PhD
Rudolph Gleason PhD
Stamatios Lerakis MD
Muralidhar Padala PhD

Title:
Patient-Specific Finite Element Modeling of Biomechanical Interaction in Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation

Abstract:
Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is an effective alternative treatment option for patients with severe aortic stenosis, who are at a high risk for conventional surgical aortic valve replacement or considered inoperable. Despite the short- and mid-term survival benefits of TAVI, adverse clinical events, such as paravalvular leak, aortic rupture, and coronary occlusion, have been reported extensively. Many of these adverse events can be explained from the biomechanics perspective. Therefore, an in-depth understanding of biomechanical interaction between the device and native tissue is critical to the success of TAVI. The objective of this study is to investigate the biomechanics involved in the TAVI procedure using patient-specific finite element (FE) simulations.Patient-specific FE models of the aortic roots will be reconstructed using pre-procedural multi-slice computed tomography images. The models will incorporate aged human aortic material properties with material failure criteria obtained from mechanical tests, and realistic stent expansion methods. TAV deployment and tissue-device interaction will be simulated. The methodology presented in this study could be potentially utilized as a valuable pre-procedural planning tool to evaluate device performance for TAVI and eventually improve clinical outcomes.