The effect of aortic annulus calcification on the blood flow through the bileaflet mechanical heart valve: A numerical investigation

This paper presents a numerical analysis of the fluid flow characteristics of the On-x heart valve prosthesis with calcified and healthy annulus in flexible aorta. Aorta geometry is modeled based on the medical images and characterized by Ogden and linear elastic models.The 3D numerical simulation on the two-way Fluid- Solid Interaction (FSI) analysis is performed throughout the accelerating systole period in time-dependent physiological condition. Also, the dynamics of the leaflets and blood flow characteristics such as thevelocities, vorticities, recirculating zones as well as viscous and turbulent shear stress were precisely captured in the flow field particularly in the valve region. The results for the On-x valves leaflet angle during the opening phase are in agreement with previous studiesand the results of transvalvular pressure gradient in this study are in the range of experimental data. Furthermore, simulations show that annulus calcification results in change in flow field velocity and consequently considerable changes in vorticity.

Keywords:

Bileaflet mechanical heart valve , Fluidstructure interaction , calcified aortic annulus