Development of computational tools for patient-specific aortic valve repair simulation

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The number of patients with aortic valve disease keeps growing due to the aging of the population in Canada and elsewhere. Aortic valve repair can mitigate the impact of aortic valve disease on quality of life and life expectancy. The proposed research program aims to allow more patients to benefit from aortic valve repair by providing the majority of cardiac surgeons who are not experts in this procedure with reliable simulation tools to help them choose between different aortic valve repair techniques in a patient-specific manner. This choice will be based on mechanistic aspects such as overall valve function, mechanical stress level in the valvular components (i.e. a predictor of risk of immediate tissue tearing and/or long-term calcification), opening and closing characteristics, and sealing quality of the valve. In addition, new methods will be developed to reduce computational time. An aortic valve repair expert cardiac surgeon and a trained anesthesiologist and echocardiographer from the University of Ottawa Heart Institute have committed their continued participation to provide medical expertise and patient data, thereby maximizing the clinical relevance of the research program. Given the clinical and financial advantages of aortic valve repair over replacement, this will greatly benefit the Canadian healthcare system.