• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2008.11b
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• pp.2410-2414
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• 2008

Human heart valves diseased by congenital heart defects, rheumatic fever, bacterial infection, cancer may cause stenosis or insufficiency in the valves. Treatment may be with medication but often involves valve repair or replacement (insertion of an artificial heart valve). Bileaflet mechanical heart valves (BMHVs) are widely implanted to replace the diseased heart valves, but still suffer from complications such as hemolysis, platelet activation, tissue overgrowth and device failure. These complications are closely related to both flow characteristics through the valves and leaflet dynamics. In this study, the physiological flow interacting with the moving leaflets in a bileaflet mechanical heart valve (BMHV) is simulated with a strongly coupled implicit fluid-structure interaction (FSI) method which is newly organized based on the Arbitrary-Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) approach and the dynamic mesh method (remeshing) in FLUENT. The simulated results are in good agreement with previous experimental studies. This study shows the applicability of the present FSI model to the complicated physics interacting between fluid flow and moving boundary.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2001.04a
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• pp.643-646
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• 2001

This paper investigates the structural analysis and design of mechanical heart valve through the numerical analysis methodology. In a numerical analysis methodology application to the thickness minimization structural design of mechanical heart valve, structural analysis is performed for the blood flow through a bileaflet mechanical heart valve. The structural static analysis is carried out to confirm the thickness minimization structural condition (minimum thickness shape of leaflet).

• Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
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• v.20 no.8
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• pp.1118-1124
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• 2006

Recently, cavitation on the surface of mechanical heart valve has been studied as a cause of fractures occurring in implanted Mechanical Heart Valves (MHVs). It has been conceived that the MHVs mounted in an artificial heart close much faster than in vivo sue, resulting in cavitation bubbles formation. In this study, six different kinds of mono leaflet and bileaflet valves were mounted in the mitral position in an Electro-Hydraulic Total Artificial Heart (EHTAH), and we investigated the mechanisms for MHV cavitation. The valve closing velocity and a high speed video camera were employed to investigate the mechanism for MHV cavitation. The closing velocity of the bileaflet valves was slower than that of the mono leaflet valves. Cavitation bubbles were concentrated on the edge of the valve stop and along the leaflet tip. It was established that squeeze flow holds the key to MHV cavitation in our study. Cavitation intensity increased with an increase in the valve closing velocity and the valve stop area. With regard to squeeze flow, the bileaflet valve with slow valve-closing velocity and small valve stop areas is better able to prevent blood cell damage than the monoleaflet valves.

• Korean Journal of Computational Design and Engineering
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.59-68
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• 2001

This paper investigates the structural analysis and design of mechanical heart valve through the numerical analysis methodology. In a numerical analysis methodology application to the thickness minimization structural design of mechanical heart valve, fluid analysis is performed for the blood flow through a bileaflet mechanical heart valve. Simultaneously the kinetodynamic analysis is carried out to obtain the appropriate structural condition for the structural analysis. Thereafter the structural static analysis is also carried out to confirm the thickness minimization structural condition(minimum thickness shape of leaflet).

• International Journal of Precision Engineering and Manufacturing
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.5-12
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• 2003

This paper discusses about the thickness effects on the structural durability of a bileaflet mechanical heart valve (MHV). In the study on the design and the mechanical characteristics of a bileaflet mechanical heart valve, the fluid mechanics analysis on the blood flow passing through leaflets, the kinetodynamics analysis on the rigid body motion of the leaflet induced by the pulsatile blood flow, and the structural mechanics analysis for the deformed leaflet are required sequentially and simultaneously. Fluid forces computed in the fluid mechanics analysis on the blood flow are used in the kinetodynamics analysis for the leaflet motion. Thereafter, the structural mechanics analysis for the deformed leaflet follows to predict the structural strength variation of the leaflet as the leaflet thickness changes. Analysis results show that structural deformations and stresses increase as the fluid pressure increases and the leaflet thickness decreases. Analysis results also show that the leaflet becomes structurally weaker and weaker as the leaflet becomes thinner and thinner.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.61-66
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• 1995

We have developed a monoleaflet polymer valve as an inexpensive and viable alternative, especially for short-term use in the ventricular assist device or total artificial heart. The frame and leaflet of the polymer valve were made from polyurethane. To evaluate the hemodynamic performance of the polymer valve a comparative study of flow dynamics past a polymer valve and a St. Jude Medicals prosthetic valve under physiological pulsatile flow conditions in vitro was made. Comparisons between the valves were made on the transvalvular pressure drop, regurgitation volume and maximum valve opening area. The polymer valve showed smaller regurgitation volllme and transvalvular pressure drop compared to the mechanical valve at higher heart rate. The results showed that the functional characteristics of the polymer valve compared favorably with those of the mechanical valve at higher heart rate.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.91-93
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• 1989

We have developed a monoleaflet polymer valve as an inexpensive and viable alternative, especially for short-term use in the ventricular assist device or total artificial heart. The frame and leaflet of the polymer valve were made from polyurethane, To evaluate the hemodynamic performance of the polymer valve a comparative study of flow dynamics past a polymer valve and a St. Jude Medical prosthetic valve under physiological pulsatile flow conditions in vitro was made. Comparisons between the valves were made on the transvalvular pressure drop, regurgitation volume and maximum valve opening area. The polymer valve showed smaller regurgitation volume and transvalvular pressure drop compared to the mechanical valve at higher heart rate. The results showed that the functional characteristics of the polymer valve compared favorably with those of the mechanical valve at higher heart rate.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Visualization
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.47-55
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• 2006

The left ventricular filling flow is now considered as an indicator which can be used for early diagnosing of cardiovascular diseases. Because the understanding of left ventricular flow physics is critical for this purpose, the downstream flow characteristics of the artificial heart valve are investigated using particle image velocimetry (PIV) method. In this study, we investigated the wake characteristics of flows passing through three different artificial valves (St.Jude medical bileaflet mechanical valve. Bjork-Shiley monostrut mechanical valve and St.Jude medical Biocor bio valve). The downstream flow field has remarkably altered according to the different valves. SJM MHV has the flow field similar to the pulsating circular jet and BS MHV has oblique pulsating jet. SJM BHV shows the similar flow field of clinical data of normal heart.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.28 no.9
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• pp.817-821
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• 1995

The CarboMedics Medical valve has become our mechanical valvular prosthesis of choice because of favorable hemodynamic results that associated with marked clinical improvement and low incidence of thromboembolism after it,s uses. The data for this study was collected from August 1988 to July 1993,five years period. There were total of 57 patients[female 40,male 17 in this series with 4 isolated aortic valve,26 isolated mitral valve,11 double valve and a triple valve replacement. The mean follow up time was 32 months. Postoperatively,58% of cases were in New York Heart Association[NYHA functional class I,and mild and moderate symptoms[NYHA class II were present in 36% and there were very few patients remaining in higher functional classes. In postoperative echocardiographic study, showed marked improved cardiac function. The overall early mortality was 3.5% and the late mortality was one case after triple valve replacement due to sudden death. The causes of early death were attributed to early prosthetic valve endocarditis and heart failure.

• Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
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• v.17 no.9
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• pp.1316-1323
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• 2003

This paper presents a structural analysis on the rigid and deformed motion of the leaflet induced by the blood flow required in the design of a bileaflet mechanical heart valve (MHV) prosthesis. In the study on the design and the mechanical characteristics of a bileaflet mechanical heart valve, the fluid mechanics analysis on the blood flow passing through leaflets, the kinetodynamics analysis on the rigid body motion of the leaflet induced by the pulsatile blood flow, and the structural mechanics analysis on the deformed motion of the leaflet are required sequentially and simultaneously. Fluid forces computed in the previous hemodynamics analysis on the blood flow are used in the kinetodynamics analysis on the rigid body motion of the leaflet. Thereafter, the structural mechanics analysis on the deformed motion of the leaflet follows to predict the structural strength variation of the leaflet as the leaflet thickness changes. Analysis results show that structural deformations and stresses increase as the fluid pressure increases and the leaflet thickness decreases. Analysis results also show that the leaflet becomes structurally weaker and weaker as the leaflet thickness becomes smaller than 0.6 mm.