High resolution numerical simulations of a novel Trileaflet Mechanical Heart Valve

Bileaflet Mechanical Heart Valves (BMHVs) are susceptible to cause platelet activation, induced by non-physiological blood flow patterns generated by their current designs, characterized by two leaflets. This study investigates the hemodynamics of a novel Trileaflet Mechanical Heart Valve (TMHV) having three leaflets, similar to the native aortic valve. Numerical simulations are carried out with the well-validated Curvilinear Immersed Boundary (CURVIB) solver, strongly coupled to a fluid-structure interaction (FSI) algorithm under aortic flow conditions. The TMHV leaflets open synchronously during early systole and start to asynchronously close during forward deceleration phase of the cardiac cycle, fully closing by early regurgitation. The flow field is mainly characterized by a strong central jet with triangular cross-section. Shear stresses exceeding 10 Pa in magnitude are only observed in regions where platelets would be advected with high velocity blood stream. The TMHV flow is closer to the native valve flow compared to the BMHV and may circumvent their biocompatibility issues, which needs further investigation.