Speaking from the heart: a mathematical point of view

Abstract

The mechanics associated with a living entity dictates its ability to survive or perish. Similarly, heart valve function relies on its mechanical properties and structural integrity. A compromise in these leads to diseased valve states. There are still many unknowns on the influence of dimensional changes in valve mechanics: to tackle this, we created a mathematical model describing the shape of a heart valve based upon clinical data. We then established a computational characterization associated with different valve configurations.
Our model predicted different cases of function, associated with valve geometrical changes. Diseased configurations, yielded greater valve tissue stress in comparison with healthy ones, exhibiting greater damaging. Our model provides with adjustable geometric detail, useful to study customized cases by employing diverse patient data and generating a range of geometries for computational assessment. Such framework can aid in patient risk stratification by indicating which configurations are associated with unfavorable performance.