Flow visualization through two types of aortic prosthetic heart valves using stereoscopic high-speed particle image velocimetry.

The number of candidates waiting for a heart valve replacement rises yearly. Even though there is a trend toward implantation of biological valves or reconstruction, the prosthetic heart valves (PHVs) are still commonly used for implantation or as a part of cardiac assist devices in many countries worldwide. However, the hemodynamic consequences of these valves are still not completely understood. Unfortunately, these devices currently do not perform sufficiently on a long-term basis and may lead to several complications, many of them are related to fluid mechanical aspects. A novel method, stereoscopic high-speed particle image velocimetry, was applied to quantify all three velocity components behind a PHV in detailed time domain. In this study, we compared clinically used bileaflet aortic prosthetic (ATS) valve and monoleaflet prototype of tilting disk PHV. The absolute velocities calculated out of two and three velocity components were compared to each other to estimate the overall difference in the desired region of interest. The most significant discrepancies between the two- and three-component absolute velocities were found at the regions of Valsalva sinuses and in a major jet stream of monoleaflet PHV.