Combined experimental and numerical analysis of the flow structure into the left ventricle.

Fluid dynamics is used for diagnosis in cardiology only to a partial extent. Indeed several aspects of cardiac flows and their relation with pathophysiology are unknown. The flow that develops into the left ventricle is here studied by using a combination of numerical and experimental models. The former allows a detailed three-dimensional analysis, the latter can be used in conditions, like in presence of turbulence, that are out of reach of the current computational power. The three-dimensional flow dynamics is analyzed in terms of its vortical structure. The study, within its limitations, provides further physical understanding about the intraventricular flow structure. This could eventually support the development of cardiac diagnostic indicators based on fluid dynamics.

[1]  H Reul,et al.  Fluid mechanics of the natural mitral valve. , 1981, Journal of biomechanics.

[2]  Y. Logeais,et al.  Recent Progress in Mitral Valve Disease , 1986 .

[3]  B J Bellhouse,et al.  Fluid mechanics of a model mitral valve and left ventricle. , 1972, Cardiovascular research.

[4]  Jinhee Jeong,et al.  On the identification of a vortex , 1995, Journal of Fluid Mechanics.

[5]  Olga Pierrakos,et al.  Time-resolved DPIV analysis of vortex dynamics in a left ventricular model through bileaflet mechanical and porcine heart valve prostheses. , 2004, Journal of biomechanical engineering.

[6]  Gianni Pedrizzetti,et al.  Nature optimizes the swirling flow in the human left ventricle. , 2005, Physical review letters.

[7]  S. Steen,et al.  Filling of a model left ventricle studied by colour M mode Doppler. , 1994, Cardiovascular research.

[8]  Toshinosuke Akutsu,et al.  Effect of the flow field of mechanical bileaflet mitral prostheses on valve closing , 2005, Journal of Artificial Organs.

[9]  A formulation of Navier-Stokes problem in cylindrical coordinates applied to the 3D entry jet in a duct , 2004 .

[10]  F. Eberli,et al.  Diastolic heart failure. , 2000, Cardiovascular Research.

[11]  D. Wieting,et al.  3 – Dynamics and fluid dynamics of the mitral valve , 1984 .

[12]  Jean Hertzberg,et al.  Characterizing Vortex Ring Behavior During Ventricular Filling with Doppler Echocardiography: An in Vitro Study , 2004, Annals of Biomedical Engineering.

[13]  A. D. Gosman,et al.  Computational Flow Modeling of the Left Ventricle Based on In Vivo MRI Data: Initial Experience , 2001, Annals of Biomedical Engineering.

[14]  A P Yoganathan,et al.  Computational modeling of left heart diastolic function: examination of ventricular dysfunction. , 2000, Journal of biomechanical engineering.

[15]  A. Cenedese,et al.  A laboratory investigation of the flow in the left ventricle of a human heart with prosthetic, tilting-disk valves , 2005 .

[16]  Erik Dick,et al.  Hydrodynamics of color M-mode Doppler flow wave propagation velocity V(p): a computer study. , 2002, Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography : official publication of the American Society of Echocardiography.

[17]  Gianni Pedrizzetti,et al.  Fluid dynamics of the left ventricular filling in dilated cardiomyopathy. , 2002, Journal of biomechanics.

[18]  Ulrich Steinseifer,et al.  Unsteady flow through a new mechanical heart valve prosthesis analysed by digital particle image velocimetry , 2002 .

[19]  R. Vasan,et al.  Defining diastolic heart failure: a call for standardized diagnostic criteria. , 2000, Circulation.

[20]  Gianni Pedrizzetti,et al.  Three-dimensional filling flow into a model left ventricle , 2005, Journal of Fluid Mechanics.

[21]  D. Bergel.  Geigy Scientific Tables , 1991 .