Modeling and Simulation of Valve Cycle in Vein Using an Immersed Finite Element Method

A vein model was established to simulate the periodic characteristics of blood flow and valve deformation in blood-induced valve cycles.Using an immersed finite element method which was modified by a ghost fluid technique,the interaction between the vein and blood was simulated.With an independent solid solver,the contact force between vein tissues was calculated using an adhesive contact method.A benchmark simulation of the normal valve cycle validated the proposed model for a healthy vein.Both the opening orifice and blood flow rate agreed with those in the physiology.Low blood shear stress and maximum leaflet stress were also seen in the base region of the valve.On the basis of the healthy model,a diseased vein model was subsequently built to explore the sinus lesions,namely,fibrosis and atrophy which are assumed stiffening and softening of the sinus.Our results showed the opening orifice of the diseased vein was inversely proportional to the corresponding modulus of the sinus.A drop in the transvalvular pressure gradient resulted from the sinus lesion.Compared to the fibrosis,the atrophy of the sinus apparently improved the vein deformability but simultaneously accelerated the deterioration of venous disease and increased the risk of potential fracture.These results provide understandings of the normal/abnormal valve cycle in vein,and can be also helpful for the prosthesis design.

Immersed Interface Finite Element Methods for Elasticity Interface Problems with Non-Homogeneous Jump Conditions

In this paper,a class of new immersed interface finite element methods (IIFEM) is developed to solve elasticity interface problems with homogeneous and non-homogeneous jump conditions in two dimensions.Simple non-body-fitted meshes are used.For homogeneous jump conditions,both non-conforming and conforming basis functions are constructed in such a way that they satisfy the natural jump conditions. For non-homogeneous jump conditions,a pair of functions that satisfy the same non-homogeneous jump conditions are constructed using a level-set representation of the interface.With such a pair of functions,the discontinuities across the interface in the solution and flux are removed;and an equivalent elasticity interface problem with homogeneous jump conditions is formulated.Numerical examples are presented to demonstrate that such methods have second order convergence.

Numerical study of opposed zero-net-mass-flow jet-induced erythrocyte mechanoporation

With the advantages of biosafety and efficiency,increasing attention has been paid to the devices for gene and macromolecular drug delivery based on mechanoporation.The transient pore formation on the cell membrane allows cargo transportation when the membrane areal strain is beyond the critical pore value and below the lysis tension threshold.Based on this principle,we propose a method to apply the proper fluid stress on cells moving in a microchannel under the action of zero-net-mass-flux(ZNMF)jets.In this study,an immersed finite element method(IFEM)is adopted to simulate the interaction between the cells and the fluid fields so as to investigate the cell movement and deformation in this mechanoporation system.To evaluate the efficiency of the cargo delivery,a pore integral is defined as the mean pore rate when the cell passes through the jet region.By analyzing the effects of the parameters,including the pressure gradient along the microchannel,the jet amplitude,and the jet frequency,on the pore integrals,a group of optimized parameters for cargo delivery efficiency are obtained.Additionally,the stability and safety of this system are analyzed in detail.These results are helpful in designing the mechanoporation devices and improving their efficiency of drug delivery.

Fluid-structure interaction simulation of pathological mitral valve dynamics in a coupled mitral valve-left ventricle model

Background Understanding the interaction between the mitral valve(MV)and the left ventricle(LV)is very important in assessing cardiac pump function,especially when the MV is dysfunctional.Such dysfunction is a major medical problem owing to the essential role of the MV in cardiac pump function.Computational modelling can provide new approaches to gain insight into the functions of the MV and LV.Methods In this study,a previously developed LV-MV model was used to study cardiac dynamics of MV leaflets under normal and pathological conditions,including hypertrophic cardiomyopathy(HOCM)and calcification of the valve.The coupled LV-MV model was implemented using a hybrid immersed boundary/finite element method to enable assessment of MV haemodynamic performance.Constitutive parameters of the HOCM and calcified valves were inversely determined from published experimental data.The LV compensation mechanism was further studied in the case of the calcified MV.Results Our results showed that MV dynamics and LV pump function could be greatly affected by MV pathology.For example,the HOCM case showed bulged MV leaflets at the systole owing to low stiffness,and the calcified MV was associated with impaired diastolic filling and much-reduced stroke volume.We further demonstrated that either increasing the LV filling pressure or increasing myocardial contractility could enable a calcified valve to achieve near-normal pump function.Conclusion The modelling approach developed in this study may deepen our understanding of the interactions between the MV and the LV and help in risk stratification of heart valve disease and in silico treatment planning by exploring intrinsic compensation mechanisms.