Marshall Davey and Charles Puelz’s paper, which was co-authored by Simone Rossi, Margaret Anne Smith, and David Wells and entitled, Simulating cardiac fluid dynamics in the human heart, has been accepted for publication in PNAS Nexus. (An earlier preprint is available on arXiv.) The study was also performed in collaboration with Greg Sturgeon and Paul Segars at Duke, John Vavalle at UNC School of Medicine, and Charlie Peskin at NYU.
Predictive mathematical models of blood flow in the heart can simulate cardiac physiology, pathophysiology, and dysfunction along with responses to interventions. However, existing models of the heart are limited in their abilities to predict valve performance, use realistic descriptions of tissue biomechanics, or predict the response of the heart to changes in loading conditions. The integrative model of the human heart introduced in this paper aims to address these limitations. It generates pressure-volume loops, valvular pressure-flow relationships, and vortex formation times that are in excellent agreement with clinical and experimental data. The model also captures realistic changes in cardiac output in response to changing loading conditions. Critically, these physiologic aspects emerge inherently from mechanistic interactions within our comprehensive description of cardiac physiology.
This paper advances the state-of-the-art in modeling cardiac fluid-structure interaction.
Congratulations, Marshall, Charles, and the rest of the team!