On Friday 19 August 2022, Masoud Meskin will defend his PhD thesis " Fluid-structure interaction modelling of the left atrium and the mitral valve - A numerical and experimental study".
Time: 14:00
Place: Building 341, auditorium 23 & zoom: https://dtudk.zoom.us/meeting/register/u5MqdeGuqj0sHNMEIEkR7GSDFcM9GH9ao1QS
Please be aware that the PhD defense may be recorded - This will also be informed at the beginning of the PhD defense.
Supervisor: Associate Professor Marie Sand Traberg
Co-Supervisor: Professor Jørgen Arendt Jensen
Associate Professor Matthias Bo Stuart
Assessment committee:
Associate Professor Knud Erik Meyer, DTU Mechanical Engineering
Professor Jonas Stålhand, Linköping University
Associate Professor Samuel Alberg Thrysøe, Aarhus University
Chairperson:
Associate Professor Lars G. Hanson, DTU Health Technology
Abstract:
The World Health Organization (WHO) describes cardiovascular disease as the leading cause of death globally, which constitutes 31% of all global deaths. Cardiac disease in the left heart is the most prevalent, associated with high morbidity and mortality. Along with increasing rate of cardiac disease, advanced diagnostic methods, like medical imaging, are in growth which allow clinicians to diagnose heart disease. However, the complexity of the heart disease creates the need of having more accurate and robust methods of diagnostics. Advances in numerical methods, like finite element analysis, have enabled the quantification of the cardiovascular mechanics to generate patient-specific models for more accurate diagnosis. Combining numerical methods with imaging modalities can be deployed in designing patient-specific modeling of the cardiovascular system for pre-operation preparations, medical intervention trials and finding out post-operation outcomes. In this project, the dynamics of the left heart were investigated by combining numerical and experimental methods with advanced medical imaging. To this aim, numerical methods were employed to generate a computer model of the left atrium and the mitral valve, and a left heart mock circulatory loop was built, to investigate the mechanics and hemodynamics of the left atrium.
Based on the experimental model it can be concluded that it mimics the physiologic performance of the left atrium. The measured pressure and flowrate data showed that it captures the complex interrelated sequences of the cardiac events and provided a thorough holistic overview of the fluid dynamics information in the left heart. The numerical model showed good correspondence with physiological data in the literature and is deemed a good representation of the biomechanics of the left atrium considering the simplified geometry.
In conclusion, the end goal of the study, which was to construct a holistic model of the left atrium based on healthy cases to quantify the mechanical and hemodynamic parameters of the left atrium and mitral valve, has been accomplished.