Native human and bioprosthetic heart valve dynamics

Native human heart valves undergo complex deformation during a cardiac cycle and the tissue leaflets are subjected to regions of stress concentrations particularly during the opening and closing phases. Diseases of the heart valves include stenosis and valvular incompetence and the valves in the left heart (aortic and mitral valves) subjected to higher pressure loads are more prone to these diseases. A correlation has been established between regions of high stress concentration on the leaflets and regions of calcification and tissue failure. Computational simulations play a significant role in the determination of stress distribution on the leaflets during a cardiac cycle. In this chapter, the development of state-of-the-art structural analysis of the biological leaflet valves as well as fluid-structure interaction algorithms for the analysis of biological tissue valve dynamics are described. The potential application of the computational analyses on improving the design of biological heart valve prostheses is discussed. The need for further advancements in multiscale simulation for increasing our understanding of the effect of mechanical stresses on the leaflet microstructure is also pointed out.