Increasing the Accuracy of Prosthetic Valve Stress Analysis

Durability is a key measurement of prosthetic heart valve function. Assessment of fatigue life requires accurate estimates of the stresses induced during the cardiac cycle. Finite element (FE) studies have been used to estimate peak stresses in valves,1 and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) studies have been used to model blood flow around valves.2 Fluidstructure interaction (FSI) studies are less common, in part because the closure of the valve creates CFD domain pinching.