Research Assistant

PI: Danny Bluestein, Ph.D.

Period: January 2019 – Present

 

Topic of Graduate Thesis

The Biofluids Research Group (BFRG) that I will be working with throughout my graduate career studies a procedure known as Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR). As individuals age, calcium deposits may build up on the leaflets of the aortic valve and prevent proper opening of the valve. This can lead to aortic stenosis, thrombosis, heart failure, and many other complications. The TAVR device is a prosthetic valve consisting of a stent frame and hand-sutured leaflets which is implanted within the native aortic valve in order to re-open the orifice and allow for normal blood flow again. The procedure does not require open-heart surgery, but rather a catheter equipped with a prosthetic valve is inserted through the femoral artery and snaked into the heart via the aorta. We this non-invasive procedure as well as post-deployment complications. There is a heavy focus on using computational methods, so programs such as Abaqus, ANSYS Fluent, SolidWorks, and others are frequently used.

My proposed research is to design a novel prosthetic aortic valve specifically for bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) patients while implementing the emerging technology of polymeric based leaflets. Most individuals have an aortic valve with three leaflets; however, 1 to 2% of the general population has only two leaflets (bicuspid) which is considered the most common congenital heart disease [1]. Patients with these bicuspid valves suffer from earlier onset of calcification development, smaller orifice area for blood to travel through, and abnormal flow patterns that can lead to dilation of the ascending aorta [2]. Current TAVR devices are designed specifically for trileaflet valves—which have a more circular opening—but they’re used off-label to treat diseased BAVs—which have a more elliptical orifice. This off-label use leads to a new set of deployment and post-deployment complications. For example, since BAVs are more susceptible to calcification the TAVR procedure may only create partial anchoring in the native anatomy thus creating a chance for valve mobilization, and the elliptical shape of the orifice can cause increased paravalvular leakage and central regurgitation [1]. Due to the enhanced complications caused by current TAVR device deployment in BAVs, I will be working on a BAV-specific TAVR device that will mitigate these shortcomings.

  1. Lavon, K., et al., Biomechanical modeling of transcatheter aortic valve replacement in a stenotic bicuspid aortic valve: deployments and paravalvular leakage. Med Biol Eng Comput, 2019. 57(10): p. 2129-2143.
  2. Siu, S.C. and C.K. Silversides, Bicuspid Aortic Valve Disease. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 2010. 55(25): p. 2789.