Shelley Gooden 

BioE PhD Proposal 

Date: Thursday, 5 August 2021 

Time: 3pm EST 

Location: in person at TEP 104; virtual via https://zoom.us/j/91999343488  

Advisor: Lakshmi Dasi, Ph.D., School of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology  

Committee Members:   

Dr. Ajit P. Yoganathan, Ph.D., School of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology  

Dr. Muralidhar Padala, Ph.D., School of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University  

Dr. Brandon Dixon, Ph.D., School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology  

Dr. Vinod H. Thourani, M.D., Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Piedmont Heart Institute  

Dr. Konstantinos Dean Boudoulas, M.D., Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center  

Predicting Biomechanical Implications of Transcatheter Atrioventricular Valve Interventions 

Mitral and tricuspid regurgitation are common valvular disorders in the United States, with 1.7% of the general population and 9.3% of those age 75 years and older having mitral regurgitation and 1.6 million with at least moderate tricuspid regurgitation. For those deemed high-risk for surgical treatment by a heart team, minimally invasive transcatheter therapies can be used. Therapies include transcatheter edge-to-edge repair and transcatheter valve replacement. While clinical results show promising outcomes, fluid mechanic implications of post-operative hemodynamics are not fully understood. This research proposal aims to study pre- and post-intervention hemodynamics, including diastolic ventricular flow velocity and vorticity, fluid stresses, valve and outflow tract pressure gradient and recovery, effective orifice area, and particle washout, with the goal of developing predictive algorithms. An in vitro flow set-up allowing reliable reproduction of in vivo conditions will be used to assess these parameters on parameterized and patient-specific anatomies as well as on animal valves. Both engineering and clinical techniques will be used, such as particle image velocimetry and echocardiography. Studying how these hemodynamic parameters are effected by transcatheter repair and replacement can improve clinician knowledge in device selection for patients in need of transcatheter mitral and/or tricuspid valve therapy.