Description:
The mitral valve (MV) controls the flow of blood between the left atrium and left ventricle of the heart. Surgical repair of the MV is a therapeutic option for leaking or regurgitating heart valves. Selecting an appropriate surgical procedure for MV repair is dependent in part on the nature of the MV disease and the MV’s geometric parameters, which are measured by diagnostic imaging (e.g. echocardiography). Due to complex tissue geometries and variances in the MV rings that are implanted during a MV repair, it is not uncommon for multiple surgeries to be performed on a single patient before achieving success.
Researchers in cardiovascular medicine and biomedical engineering from The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston and The University of Iowa have developed a MV repair simulation that is designed to help physicians prepare for detailed MV surgical procedures. Using each patient’s individual clinical imaging data, this simulation creates a 3D MV model that allows physicians to perform virtual MV repair using a variety of surgical techniques, including virtual suturing, annuloplasty ring implantation and artificial chordae attachment. Once the virtual surgery is complete, physicians can view the biomechanical and physiologic characteristics of pre- and post-MV function, including tissue stress-strain relationships. Multiple surgical simulations can be run prior to surgery to assist the physician in choosing the best option.
Image Description. Virtual representations of a patient’s MV before and after undergoing reparative virtual surgery. The simulation is able to quantitatively predict stress distribution and leaflet coaptation of the MV, shown by heat map. A threshold stress value was imposed on the simulation data above so that stress values larger than 0.4 megapascals (MPa) are displayed in red, notice that tissue stress is reduced post-resection and annuloplasty ring implantation.
Stage of Development:
A functional computational protocol has been developed. The developed protocol has been used to retrospectively create surgical simulations using clinical 3D transesophageal electrocardiographic data.
Intellectual Property Status:
Patent application pending and is available for licensing
Associated Publications:
• "Personalized Computational Modeling of Mitral Valve Prolapse: Virtual Leaflet Resection"; PLoS One. 2015 Jun 23;10(6):e0130906; PMID: 26103002 .
• "Evaluation of mitral valve dynamics"; JACC Cardiovasc Imaging. 2013 Feb; 6(2): 263–268; PMID: 23489540 .
Researchers:
• Ahnryul Choi, Ph.D.
• Hyunggun Kim, Ph.D.
• David D. McPherson, M.D., FACP, FACC, FAHA
• Yonghoon Rim, Ph.D.
• Sarah C. Vigmostad, Ph.D.
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