Fluid-structure interaction and optimal bending stiffness of bioprosthetic aortic valves made from Pulmonary Visceral Pleura (PVP)

Transcatheter Aortic Valve replacement (TAVR) is a procedure used for the deployment of bioprosthetic valves for patients with valvular heart disease. Although widely popular in its usage, these prosthetic valves – which are usually made with bovine pericardium (BP) tissue – are prone to calcification and structural failure. Recently, a newly identified biomaterial, Pulmonary Visceral Pleura (PVP), has shown promise in resilience, elasticity, and resistance to calcification due to its high elastin composition. In the present work, we perform a series of 3D fluid-structure interaction (FSI) simulations of the PVP aortic valve with varying leaflet thicknesses and thus bending stiffnesses. From these simulations, we compare the performance of the PVP valve with that of the conventional BP valve, and we study the effect of the normalized bending stiffness on the valve opening/closing dynamics as well as on the flow behavior. The previously identified optimal range of bending stiffness will also be examined using this new valve material.