Fluid-structure interaction modeling of mitral valve structures
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Understanding the blood flow in the human heart is pivotal for improving the treatment for heart valve disease. To this end, we develop and use the FEniCS HeartSolver with patient specific ventricle geometries from ultrasound images, to simulate interventricular blood flow in the left ventricle. In our most recent study, the heart valves were simulated as time-dependent in- and outflow boundary conditions. Now, we present our most recent development of the mitral valve (MV) geometry, with unified continuum fluid-structure interaction on a monolithic mesh. By more accurately representing the solid structures within the ventricle, we aim to improve the quality of our simulations, to be able to better predict the outcome of treatment for heart disease. The current focus of our research is heart valve disease in the left ventricle. Recently, we simulated the treatment of mitral regurgitation by transcatheter edge-to-edge repair (TEER), and its effects on the interventricular blood flow. This procedure permanently seals part of the MV opening, thereby treating the regurgitation, but also significantly altering the blood flow within the ventricle. To better understand whether treatment for MV disease can influence the risk for thrombosis formation, we study the flow structures in the blood. This is done by applying the triple decomposition of the velocity gradient tensor. By this method the shear, which is linked to blood clot formation, can be separated from other flow structures, and estimated. In the study with the boundary condition valve model, it was found that shear increases significantly following TEER, which could imply a higher risk of thrombosis formation.