Two-dimensional intraventricular flow pattern visualization using the image-based computational fluid dynamics

Abstract

The image-based computational fluid dynamics (IB-CFD) technique, as the combination of medical images and the CFD method, is utilized in this research to analyze the left ventricle (LV) hemodynamics. The research primarily aims to propose a semi-automated technique utilizing some freely available and commercial software packages in order to simulate the LV hemodynamics using the IB-CFD technique. In this research, moreover, two different physiological time-resolved 2D models of a patient-specific LV with two different types of aortic and mitral valves, including the orifice-type valves and integrated with rigid leaflets, are adopted to visualize the process of developing intraventricular vortex formation and propagation. The blood flow pattern over the whole cardiac cycle of two models is also compared to investigate the effect of utilizing different valve types in the process of the intraventricular vortex formation. Numerical findings indicate that the model with integrated valves can predict more complex intraventricular flow that can match better the physiological flow pattern in comparison to the orifice-type model.

Keywords:

• Cardiovascular disease (CVD)
• left ventricle (LV)
• hemodynamics
• computational fluid dynamics (CFD)
• fluid–structure interaction (FSI)

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support received from the Swinburne University of Technology and National Heart Research Institute of Singapore to carry out this research. We also thank the partial support from National Research Foundation, Singapore under its Cooperative Basic Research Grant and administered by the Singapore Ministry of Health’s National Medical Research Council (NMRC/EDG/1037/2011) (LZ).