Comparative Study of Wall-Shear Stress at the Ascending Aorta for Different Mechanical Heart Valve Prostheses

Qianhui Li; Franziska Hegner; Christoph H Bruecker

doi:10.1115/1.4043357

Comparative Study of Wall-Shear Stress at the Ascending Aorta for Different Mechanical Heart Valve Prostheses

J Biomech Eng. 2020 Jan 1;142(1):011006. doi: 10.1115/1.4043357.

Authors

Qianhui Li¹, Franziska Hegner², Christoph H Bruecker¹

Affiliations

¹ School of Mathematics, Computer Science and Engineering, City, University of London, Northampton Square, London EC1V 0HB, UK.
² Institute of Mechanics and Fluid Dynamics, Technical University Bergakademie Freiberg, Freiberg 09599, Germany.

PMID: 30942828
DOI: 10.1115/1.4043357

Abstract

An experimental study is reported which investigates the wall shear stress (WSS) distribution in a transparent model of the human aorta comparing an St. Jude Medical (SJM) Regent bileaflet mechanical heart valve (BMHV) with the Lapeyre-Triflo FURTIVA trileaflet mechanical heart valve (TMHV) in physiological pulsatile flow. Elastic microcantilever structures, calibrated as micropillar WSS sensors by microparticle-image-velocimetry measurements, are applied to the wall along the ascending aorta (AAo). The peak WSS values in the BMHV are observed to be almost twice that of the values seen in the TMHV. Flow field analysis illuminates that these peaks are linked to the jet-like flows generated in the valves interacting with the aortic wall. Not only the magnitude but also the impact regions are specific for different valve designs. The side-orifice jets generated by the BMHV travel along the aortic wall in the AAo, impacting the wall throughout the AAo. However, the jets generated by TMHV impact further downstream in the AAo and results in a reduced WSS.

Keywords: PIV; aortic valve flow; micropillar sensors; wall shear stress.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Aorta
Heart Valve Diseases
Heart Valve Prosthesis*
Humans