A patient-specific mass-spring model for biomechanical simulation of aortic root tissue during transcatheter aortic valve implantation.

A patient-specific mass-spring model for biomechanical simulation of aortic root tissue during transcatheter aortic valve implantation.
Phys Med Biol. 2019 Mar 18;:
Authors: Cristoforetti A, Masè M, Bonmassari R, Dallago M, Nollo G, Ravelli F
Abstract
The success of transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is highly dependent on the prediction of the interaction between the prosthesis and the aortic root anatomy. The simulation of the surgical procedure may be useful to guide artificial valve selection and delivery, nevertheless the introduction of simulation models into the clinical workflow is often hindered by model complexity and computational burden. To address this point, we introduced a patient-specific mass-spring model (MSM) with viscous damping, as a good trade-off between simulation accuracy and time-efficiency. The anatomical model consisted of a hexahedral mesh, segmented from pre-procedural patient-specific cardiac computer tomographic (CT) images of the aortic root, including valve leaflets and attached calcifications. Nodal forces were represented by linear-elastic springs acting on edges and angles. A fast integration approach based on the modulation of nodal masses was also tested. The model was validated on seven patients, comparing simulation results with post-procedural CT images with respect to calcification and aortic wall position. The validation showed that the MSM was able to predict calcification dis...

Source: Physics in Medicine and Biology - March 17, 2019 Category: Physics Authors: Cristoforetti A, Masè M, Bonmassari R, Dallago M, Nollo G, Ravelli F Tags: Phys Med Biol Source Type: research