In vitro flow analysis of artificial heart valve

Before clinical use of any new valve design, it is necessary to carry out in vitro analysis of the flow characteristics through the valve. This helps in assessing the two major problems related to the blood flow namely thromboembolism and hemolysis. In vitro experiments are carried out under either steady or pulsatile flow conditions. Steady flow experiments are simple in setting up and analysis of data; however, their validity and accuracy have been questioned. Pulsatile experiments on the other hand are complex and can be time consuming. Moreover, due to the recent development of Computational Fluid Dynamics the need to carry out the in vitro experiment under pulsatile flow conditions is becoming questionable. This paper presents and discusses the fluid flow characteristics of a Jellyfish valve obtained experimentally under steady and pulsatile flow conditions. It also demonstrates the accuracy of data obtained using Computational Fluid Dynamics. The findings indicate that the main features of the flow are equally observed under both steady and pulsatile conditions. Moreover, the preliminary results of the computational flow using Fluent agreed well with the experimental findings. From the argument presented in this paper it is concluded that, at least in the initial optimization of the valve haemodynamic performance, the steady hydrodynamic evaluation of the valve could be an effective tool for analyzing the flow characteristics and provide sufficient data for the construction of a complete three-dimensional analysis of the flow.