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. 2024 Mar 20;15(3):76.
doi: 10.3390/jfb15030076.

Shear Stress Quantification in Tissue Engineering Bioreactor Heart Valves: A Computational Approach

Raj Dave  1 , Giulia Luraghi  2 , Leslie Sierad  3 , Francesco Migliavacca  2 , Ethan Kung  1   4
Affiliations

Shear Stress Quantification in Tissue Engineering Bioreactor Heart Valves: A Computational Approach

Raj Dave et al. J Funct Biomater. .

Abstract

Tissue-engineered heart valves can grow, repair, and remodel after implantation, presenting a more favorable long-term solution compared to mechanical and porcine valves. Achieving functional engineered valve tissue requires the maturation of human cells seeded onto valve scaffolds under favorable growth conditions in bioreactors. The mechanical stress and strain on developing valve tissue caused by different pressure and flow conditions in bioreactors are currently unknown. The aim of this study is to quantify the wall shear stress (WSS) magnitude in heart valve prostheses under different valve geometries and bioreactor flow rates. To achieve this, this study used fluid-structure interaction simulations to obtain the valve's opening geometries during the systolic phase. These geometries were then used in computational fluid dynamics simulations with refined near-wall mesh elements and ranges of prescribed inlet flow rates. The data obtained included histograms and regression curves that characterized the distribution, peak, and median WSS for various flow rates and valve opening configurations. This study also found that the upper region of the valve near the commissures experienced higher WSS magnitudes than the rest of the valve.

Keywords: CFD; FSI; TEHV; computational model; wall shear stress quantification.

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Conflict of interest statement

Author Leslie Sierad was employed by the company Aptus, LLC. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Valves representing pediatric, adolescent, and adult sizes: 12.3, 18.45, and 24.6 mm, respectively.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Isometric and planform (top) views of GOA.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Summary of the geometries included in the CFD simulation to quantify WSS. Numbers represent the GOA in mm2.
Figure 4
Figure 4
WSS histogram for the 24.6 mm valve. Flow rate is arranged in the vertical direction and increases down the columns. % GOA is arranged in the horizontal direction. The area of each histogram is individually normalized to 1.
Figure 5
Figure 5
WSS histogram for the 18.45 mm valve. Flow rate is arranged in the vertical direction and increases down the columns. % GOA is arranged in the horizontal direction. The area of each histogram is individually normalized to 1.
Figure 6
Figure 6
WSS histogram for the 12.3 mm valve. Flow rate is arranged in the vertical direction and increases down the columns. % GOA is arranged in the horizontal direction. The area of each histogram is individually normalized to 1.
Figure 7
Figure 7
(a) Typically observed WSS pattern in the valve simulations. (b) Altered WSS pattern due to separation of flow from the valve surface for smaller valves with high flow rates. WSS legend: orange indicates regions of higher WSS and deep blue regions of lower WSS. The image is presented for illustrative purposes to depict the typical distribution of WSS observed during this study; therefore, specific values are not shown.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Regression plot: median (50th) percentile WSS. The normalized root mean squared error (NRMSE) value is normalized by range.
Figure 9
Figure 9
Regression plot: 99th percentile WSS.
Figure 10
Figure 10
Comparing histograms of selected data points close to each other in Figure 8. (a) Point 1 [10.45, 1.227], Point 2 [10.47, 1.231], Percentage Difference [0.179, 0.302]; (b) Point 1 [10.69, 1.423], Point 2 [10.71, 1.424], Percentage Difference [0.163, 0.022]; (c) Point 1 [11.06, 2.163], Point 2 [11.08, 2.165], Percentage Difference [0.137, 0.063]; (d) Point 1 [11.54, 2.338], Point 2 [11.57, 2.333], Percentage Difference [0.261, 0.237].
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