ERI: Investigation of the Effect of Venous Valve Morphology on Fluid Flow Conditions and Disease

该奖项全部或部分由2021年美国救援计划法案（公法117-2）资助。该工程研究启动（ERI）奖将支持基础研究，以了解静脉瓣膜特性对疾病发展的影响。 因此，这项工作将促进科学的进步，促进国家的健康，繁荣和福利。身体泵血使用静脉瓣膜和肌肉收缩的组合。 瓣膜和肌肉一起抵抗重力将血液从腿部等部位泵回心脏。当血细胞在静脉瓣膜附近的静脉中积聚形成称为血栓的血块时，发生深静脉血栓形成。 血栓阻止瓣膜正常工作，并可能导致肺栓塞，这是美国和其他工业化国家的主要死亡原因。已知静脉中的流体流动条件影响血栓形成的时间和位置。 然而，静脉瓣膜的各种性质对流动条件和血栓形成的影响大多是未知的。这项工作将使用计算机模拟和实验测试，以确定最重要的静脉瓣膜性能。 然后，这项工作将确定这些特性如何影响流动条件并导致血栓形成。这项工作将揭示静脉瓣如何以及在何处促成血栓形成。 这些结果将最终改善血栓形成风险的评估。此外，这项研究将促进工程教育和多样性。 社区外展活动将包括在服务不足的社区的当地学校使用静脉瓣膜模型。 该项目还将为本科生提供机会，包括那些来自代表性不足的群体，学习研究过程。 流体动力学因素如剪切应力、流体停滞和流体停留时间通常被认为是血栓形成的关键因素。在这项支持的工作中，将采用由流固相互作用建模和仿真以及实验模型阀流成像和表征组成的组合方法。这两种方法将相互补充和支持，阐明瓣膜形态对上述疾病有益的流动条件的影响。这项工作不仅有助于了解生理瓣膜的作用和行为，而且还将导致更有效的人工瓣膜设计，以避免某些生理形态中出现的问题。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2).This Engineering Research Initiation (ERI) award will support fundamental research that will build understanding of the impact of venous valve properties on the development of disease. Therefore, this work will promote the progress of science and advance the national health, prosperity and welfare. The body pumps blood using a combination of venous valves and muscle contractions. Together, the valves and muscles pump blood against gravity to get from locations such as the legs back to the heart. Deep vein thrombosis occurs when blood cells build up in the veins near venous valves to form blood clots known as thrombi. Thrombi prevent the valves from functioning properly, and can lead to pulmonary embolism, which is a leading cause of death in the United States and other industrialized countries. It is known that fluid flow conditions in the veins influence when and where a thrombus forms. However, the effect of various properties of venous valves on flow conditions and thrombus formation is mostly unknown. This work will use both computer simulations and experimental testing to identify the most important venous valve properties. Then, this work will determine how these properties affect flow conditions and lead to thrombus formation. This work will reveal how and where venous valves contribute to thrombosis. These results will ultimately improve assessments of thrombosis risk. Additionally, this research will advance engineering education and diversity. Community outreach activities will include the use of venous valve models in local schools in underserved neighborhoods. This project will also provide opportunity for undergraduate students, including those from underrepresented groups, to learn the research process. Fluid dynamic factors such as shear stress, fluid stasis, and fluid residence time are thought to generally be critical to thrombus formation. In this supported work, a combined approach consisting of both fluid-solid interaction modeling and simulation, and experimental model valve flow imaging and characterization will be employed. These two approaches will complement and support each other in elucidating the effect of valve morphology on the aforementioned disease-conducive flow conditions. The work here will not only help give understanding of the effects and behavior of physiological valves, but will also lead to more effective design of prosthetic valves to avoid problems seen in certain physiological morphologies.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.