Simulation Study of Aortic Valve Function Using the Fluid-structure Interaction Finite Element Method

Summary

The aortic root, with its characteristic morphology, has attracted the interest of researchers in both clinical and basic sciences, and the emergence of aortic root replacement surgery has further increased the significance of such studies. In addition to clinical observations, both experimental and theoretical studies have attempted to elucidate the dynamics of the aortic root; however, to date, most of these studies have dealt with simplified models of the aortic root, and are thus not readily applicable to clinical settings. Recently, 3-D finite element analyses of the aortic root have been reported, in which realistic shapes of both aorta and valve leaflet were modeled. So far, however, only a few studies have taken into consideration the effect of blood flow, an essential component of aortic root dynamics, due the difficulty in computation. We have developed a computational program for fluid-structure interaction analysis based on the arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian finite element method, and applied it to the simulation of aortic root dynamics. The results suggest the importance of vortex formation in the sinus of Valsalva in the smooth closure of the aortic valve.