• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2008.11b
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• pp.2410-2414
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• 2008

Human heart valves diseased by congenital heart defects, rheumatic fever, bacterial infection, cancer may cause stenosis or insufficiency in the valves. Treatment may be with medication but often involves valve repair or replacement (insertion of an artificial heart valve). Bileaflet mechanical heart valves (BMHVs) are widely implanted to replace the diseased heart valves, but still suffer from complications such as hemolysis, platelet activation, tissue overgrowth and device failure. These complications are closely related to both flow characteristics through the valves and leaflet dynamics. In this study, the physiological flow interacting with the moving leaflets in a bileaflet mechanical heart valve (BMHV) is simulated with a strongly coupled implicit fluid-structure interaction (FSI) method which is newly organized based on the Arbitrary-Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) approach and the dynamic mesh method (remeshing) in FLUENT. The simulated results are in good agreement with previous experimental studies. This study shows the applicability of the present FSI model to the complicated physics interacting between fluid flow and moving boundary.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2001.04a
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• pp.643-646
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• 2001

This paper investigates the structural analysis and design of mechanical heart valve through the numerical analysis methodology. In a numerical analysis methodology application to the thickness minimization structural design of mechanical heart valve, structural analysis is performed for the blood flow through a bileaflet mechanical heart valve. The structural static analysis is carried out to confirm the thickness minimization structural condition (minimum thickness shape of leaflet).

• International Journal of Precision Engineering and Manufacturing
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.5-12
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• 2003

This paper discusses about the thickness effects on the structural durability of a bileaflet mechanical heart valve (MHV). In the study on the design and the mechanical characteristics of a bileaflet mechanical heart valve, the fluid mechanics analysis on the blood flow passing through leaflets, the kinetodynamics analysis on the rigid body motion of the leaflet induced by the pulsatile blood flow, and the structural mechanics analysis for the deformed leaflet are required sequentially and simultaneously. Fluid forces computed in the fluid mechanics analysis on the blood flow are used in the kinetodynamics analysis for the leaflet motion. Thereafter, the structural mechanics analysis for the deformed leaflet follows to predict the structural strength variation of the leaflet as the leaflet thickness changes. Analysis results show that structural deformations and stresses increase as the fluid pressure increases and the leaflet thickness decreases. Analysis results also show that the leaflet becomes structurally weaker and weaker as the leaflet becomes thinner and thinner.

• Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
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• v.20 no.8
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• pp.1118-1124
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• 2006

Recently, cavitation on the surface of mechanical heart valve has been studied as a cause of fractures occurring in implanted Mechanical Heart Valves (MHVs). It has been conceived that the MHVs mounted in an artificial heart close much faster than in vivo sue, resulting in cavitation bubbles formation. In this study, six different kinds of mono leaflet and bileaflet valves were mounted in the mitral position in an Electro-Hydraulic Total Artificial Heart (EHTAH), and we investigated the mechanisms for MHV cavitation. The valve closing velocity and a high speed video camera were employed to investigate the mechanism for MHV cavitation. The closing velocity of the bileaflet valves was slower than that of the mono leaflet valves. Cavitation bubbles were concentrated on the edge of the valve stop and along the leaflet tip. It was established that squeeze flow holds the key to MHV cavitation in our study. Cavitation intensity increased with an increase in the valve closing velocity and the valve stop area. With regard to squeeze flow, the bileaflet valve with slow valve-closing velocity and small valve stop areas is better able to prevent blood cell damage than the monoleaflet valves.

• Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
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• v.17 no.9
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• pp.1316-1323
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• 2003

This paper presents a structural analysis on the rigid and deformed motion of the leaflet induced by the blood flow required in the design of a bileaflet mechanical heart valve (MHV) prosthesis. In the study on the design and the mechanical characteristics of a bileaflet mechanical heart valve, the fluid mechanics analysis on the blood flow passing through leaflets, the kinetodynamics analysis on the rigid body motion of the leaflet induced by the pulsatile blood flow, and the structural mechanics analysis on the deformed motion of the leaflet are required sequentially and simultaneously. Fluid forces computed in the previous hemodynamics analysis on the blood flow are used in the kinetodynamics analysis on the rigid body motion of the leaflet. Thereafter, the structural mechanics analysis on the deformed motion of the leaflet follows to predict the structural strength variation of the leaflet as the leaflet thickness changes. Analysis results show that structural deformations and stresses increase as the fluid pressure increases and the leaflet thickness decreases. Analysis results also show that the leaflet becomes structurally weaker and weaker as the leaflet thickness becomes smaller than 0.6 mm.

• 한국전산유체공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2004.10a
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• pp.203-206
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• 2004

In this study, a numerical analysis has been performed for a three-dimensional pulsatile blood flow associated with the elastic blood vessel and curved bileaflet for multiple cycles in terms of fluid-structure interaction. Here, blood has been assumed as a Newtonian, incompressible fluid. Pressure profiles have been used as boundary conditions at the ventricle and the aorta. From this analysis, the motion of the leaflet has been observed with fluttering phenomenon and rebound, and the flow fields of blood have been obtained with recirculation and regurgitation. The results can contribute to the development of design methodology for the curved bileaflet mechanical heart valve.

• Korean Journal of Computational Design and Engineering
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.59-68
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• 2001

This paper investigates the structural analysis and design of mechanical heart valve through the numerical analysis methodology. In a numerical analysis methodology application to the thickness minimization structural design of mechanical heart valve, fluid analysis is performed for the blood flow through a bileaflet mechanical heart valve. Simultaneously the kinetodynamic analysis is carried out to obtain the appropriate structural condition for the structural analysis. Thereafter the structural static analysis is also carried out to confirm the thickness minimization structural condition(minimum thickness shape of leaflet).

• 유체기계공업학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2002.12a
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• pp.504-512
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• 2002

Bileaflet mechanical valves have the complications such as hemolytic and thromboembolic events, leaflet damage, and leaflet break. These complications are related with the fluid velocity and shear stress characteristics of mechanical heart valves. This fact makes clear the importance of determining the fluid velocity and shear stress characteristics of mechanical heart valves, and requires a detailed understanding of these system properties and further substantial research. The first aim of current study is to introduce fluid-structure interaction method for calculation of unsteady and three-dimensional blood flow through bileaflet valve and leaflet behavior interacted with its flow, and to overcome the shortness of previous studies, where the leaflet motion has been ignored or simplified, by using FSI method. To accomplish this goal, a finite volume computational fluid dynamics code and a finite element structure dynamics code have been used concurrently to solve the flow and structure equations, respectively, to investigate the interaction between the blood flow and leaflet. Physiologic ventricular and aortic pressure waveforms were prescribed as flow boundary conditions. The interaction of aortic flow and valve motion were computed.

• Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
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• v.19 no.9
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• pp.1761-1772
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• 2005

In blood flow passing through the mechanical heart valve (MHV) and elastic blood vessel, hemolysis and platelet activation causing thrombus formation can be seen owing to the shear stress in the blood. Also, fracture and deformation of leaflets can be observed depending on the shape and material properties of the leaflets which is opened and closed in a cycle. Hence, comprehensive study is needed on the hemodynamics which is associated with the motion of leaflet and elastic blood vessel in terms of fluid-structure interaction. In this paper, a numerical analysis has been performed for a three-dimensional pulsatile blood flow associated with the elastic blood vessel and curved bileaflet for multiple cycles in light of fluid-structure interaction. From this analysis fluttering phenomenon and rebound of the leaflet have been observed and recirculation and regurgitation have been found in the flow fields of the blood. Also, the pressure distribution and the radial displacement of the elastic blood vessel have been obtained. The motion of the leaflet and flow fields of the blood have shown similar tendency compared with the previous experiments carried out in other studies. The present study can contribute to the design methodology for the curved bileaflet mechanical heart valve. Furthermore, the proposed fluid-structure interaction method will be effectively used in various fields where the interaction between fluid flow and structure are involved.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.26 no.9
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• pp.677-685
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• 1993

Experience with bileaflet mechanical valve replacement at the Inha Hospital in 192 patients, operated on from June 1986 until April 1993. Two hundred fourty-one prostheses [51 Duromedics, 79 St.Jude Medical, and 111 CafboMedics]were implanted during the total 195 operations. Mitral valve replacment[MVR]was done in 113 cases, aortic valve replacement[AVR]in 34, tricuspid valve replacement[TVR]in 2, and double valve replacement[DVR]in 46 cases.Of the total patients, 63.0% were women and 37.0% were men. The mean age of the patients was 40.8 years, ranged from 14 to 67years. Overall early mortality was 9.2\ulcorner%[18 out of 195]; 9.7%[11 out of 113]for MVR, 14,7% [5 out of 34]for AVR, and 4.3%[2 out of 46]for DVR. All of the operative survors were followed over a period of one to 83 months with a mean of 37 months, for total 543 patient-years. So far, eleven patients[6.7% of the long-term survivors]were lost to follov-up after a mean postoperative follow-up of 22.8 months. There were nine late deaths; three deaths due to prostetic valve endocarditis, two due to persistent heart failure, one due to cerebral hemorrhage, one due to aortic dissection after Bentall oreration, and two sudden deaths. Actuarial survival rate at 6.9 years was 94.8%, There were seventeen valve-related complications; three prosthetic valve thromboses, three thrombembolisms, three instances of prosthetic valve endocarditis, two paravalvular leakages, and six hemorrhagic complications related to anticoagulation. The actuarial rate of freedom from all valve-related complications at 6.9years was 91.3%. There were significant decreases in the heart size postoperatively that can be demonstrated by comparison of cardio-thoracic ratios on simple chest X-ray and left ventricle dimensions on echocardiography. We conclude that this midterm follow-up shows good results in terms of hemodynamics and durability although further long-term evaluations are mandatory.