Bioengineering Lecture

Two in every one thousand births in the U.S.A. results in a baby born with a single ventricle ( half a heart ). The total cavopulmonary connection (TCPC) is the current procedure of choice for surgical palliation of single ventricle congenital heart disease; however, these patients are subject to long term complications. The hemodynamics/fluid dynamics in these patients is often very complex and subjected to instabilities. To better understand the fluid dynamics and predict patient outcomes, a multi-disciplinary approach, involving engineering, computing and medicine, has been used. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) has been used to obtain in vivo patient-specific anatomies and phase contrast MRI is used to obtain flow boundary conditions. A computational virtual surgery tool has been developed to simulate a series of surgical options, whose hemodynamic performances are evaluated using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). Digital particle image velocimetry and energy loss measurements have also been employed to understand the fluid dynamics in vitro, in three dimensional geometric models of single ventricle patients. The experimental results provide validation to the CFD simulations. Using this multi-disciplinary approach, the performances of different patient geometries are evaluated based on their flow characteristics and hemodynamic efficiency. These findings are providing pediatric cardiac surgeons and cardiologists valuable surgical planning insights into improving patient outcomes.