Fluid Dynamic assessment if new PHVs prototypes under pulsatile flow condition and using PIV

Two categories of heart valve prostheses are currently available in clinics: mechanical and biological valves. The former show longer duration performance, on the other hand they induce high pressure drops during operation. The latter have preferable fluid dynamic performance but do not display high durability. The potential of Polymeric Heart Valves (PHVs) is to combine the haemodynamic properties of biological valves with the durability of mechanical valves. Our group has recently developed a new PHV made of a styrenic block copolymer obtained by compression moulding. Indeed, anisotropic mechanical properties of this material, mimicking the native tissue behaviour, can be obtained by compression and slow injection moulding. A computational tool was developed to optimize the PHV design and leaflet microstructure in order to reduce regions of stress concentration and increase the device lifetime. This work presents a hydrodynamic evaluation of the new PHV prototypes, which were manufactured by injection moulding based on the results obtained by the computational tool. The PHVs were tested under pulsatile flow conditions as prescribed by ISO 5840 Standard. Furthermore, continuous flow tests were performed to evaluate the velocity fields with the particle image velocimetry (PIV).