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Effect of Aortic Valve Geometry on Leaflet Strain Within a Phantom Silicone Aortic Heart Valve During Closing

Tom Pritchard, Michael Darcy, Jack Davies, Elysia Geeves, Louis Giron, Sahar Sattar, Carol Ling, David O'connor, Raoul van Loon Orcid Logo, Hari Arora Orcid Logo

Strain, Volume: 61, Issue: 3

Swansea University Authors: Tom Pritchard, Michael Darcy, Jack Davies, Elysia Geeves, Louis Giron, Sahar Sattar, Carol Ling, Raoul van Loon Orcid Logo, Hari Arora Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.1111/str.70010

Abstract

In the United Kingdom, aortic valve stenosis is a common heart condition and the cause of morbidity within the elderly population. A common treatment for aortic valve stenosis is replacement with a prosthetic valve, either mechanical or bioprosthetic, each with its own advantages and limitations. He...

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Published in: Strain
ISSN: 0039-2103 1475-1305
Published: Wiley 2025
Online Access: Check full text

URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa69547
Abstract: In the United Kingdom, aortic valve stenosis is a common heart condition and the cause of morbidity within the elderly population. A common treatment for aortic valve stenosis is replacement with a prosthetic valve, either mechanical or bioprosthetic, each with its own advantages and limitations. Here, the aim is to introduce a workflow for the creation and testing of phantom or prosthetic aortic heart valves to verify computational models and test the effect of valve design parameters on strain profile within the valve leaflet. Three silicone valve geometries were created and inserted into a physiologically representative flow system. High-speed digital image correlation was used to measure displacement and calculate principal strain in a single leaflet. The leaflet free edge was tracked during coaptation while the transvalvular pressure was recorded. A two stage closing process was established, the primary stage demonstrating geometry and material dependency, and secondary exhibiting solely material dependency. Areas of high principal strain were identified below the coaptation area with peaks near the commissures. This work highlights the importance of further research into the effect of valve parameters on the strain profile within the leaflets to minimise failure risk in new replacement heart valve designs.
Keywords: aortic heart valve; aortic stenosis; diastole; digital image correlation; phantom
College: Faculty of Science and Engineering
Funders: European Regional Development Fund through the Welsh Government and Swansea University (SU), SU Research Excellence Scholarship, UKRI DTP and SU Employability Fund
Issue: 3