Aortic and Mitral Heart Valves for Computational and Experimental Analysis

Abstract

Modern heart valve replacements can usually be problematic for the patients that receive them. The two main valve designs that are used for heart valve replacements are mechanical valves and bioprosthetic, or tissue valves. Both of these options have their own respective problems. While the bioprosthetic valves are more natural, they lack structural integrity and can deteriorate. The mechanical valves have a strong structural integrity, but this can be the cause of other problems e.g. blood clots, flow disturbances. In the pursuit of in vitro testing of different types of valve designs in differing heart conditions, I reverse-engineered and designed anatomical designs of both the aortic valve and the mitral valve to produce models for evaluation and testing. The first step in designing the valve was to reverse engineer similar tissue valves, which was completed in the form of a parent part. A stress analysis in SolidWorks was run on the valve design to determine if any changes needed to be implemented in the design before in vitro testing occurs. Using 3D printed molds, it was found that compression molding was preferable to injection molding. Through several iterations, the design was modified to suit the mold compression method. These results can advance research for testing heart valves in a laboratory, with differing flow conditions and implications of using medical devices that may interfere with valve function.