Influence of Aortic Valve Leaflet Material Model on Hemodynamic Features in Healthy and Pathological States

Long-term fiber tissue remodeling and the progressive thickening of the aortic valve leaflets called calcific aortic stenosis lead to cardiac blood outflow obstruction. This disease is the most prevalent heart valve pathology in developed countries. Surgeons can perform aortic valve replacement through traditional open-heart surgery involving a cut (incision) in the chest or use minimally invasive methods such as transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI). These types of surgery have numerous advantages and limitations. Recently, the Ozaki operation for aortic valve replacement using tissue from the autologous pericardium has been proposed. Despite being a promising technique for aortic valve pathology treatment, there is a lack of long-term results and optimal selection of leaflet sizing. Numerical fluid simulations can help surgeons predict operation outcomes for each patient. Nevertheless, the description of the material model for leaflet mechanics leaves an open question. Furthermore, selecting the most suitable model to describe the different conditions of the aortic valve is difficult. We performed a numerical analysis of aortic valve leaflet material models to describe the hemodynamics in normal, pathological, and Ozaki cases. We also reveal wall shear stress, von Mises stress, and displacement distributions. Based on the parameters mentioned above, we found that the Ozaki case model behaved similarly to the mathematical model describing the normal case. Numerical simulations also provide information on the mechanisms of aortic valve work in different states of the heart cycle.