Cardiovascular Modeling

cardiovascular_modelingCardiovascular research is reaching a maturation level which allows an actual consistent benefit to surgical decision and planning. To move further in this direction new and more powerful tools have to be designed. In particular we are developing tools for simulating fluid structure interaction phenomena using ALE techniques and we use ultrafast cinematography to validate the approach; we are working on hybrid models for cardiac valve simulations combining Echo and MRI data with numerical modelling; we build mock simulators where porcine valves and vessels can be placed and operated by surgeons to test new procedures and endoscopic means. A further application we are working on deals with in vivo blood quantification by using 2D ultrasound and phase contrast MRI in order to attain the complete 4D flow field directly from in vivo data. Concerning cardiovascular devices and prostheses, we are studying new models to predict long-term-effect blood damage and platelet activation; we use mixed experimental/numerical modelling in view of exploiting the potentialities of new treatment strategies (e.g., internal HDF) and technologies (new membranes); we use a multiscale computational approach when it is essential to catch the relevant phenomena (e.g., toxins sorption) from the molecular scale to the macroscale. In the more clinical-oriented procedures, major attention is paid to the development of methods and tools for the attainment of reliable patient specific models; in doing this, the focus remains the reliability of the methods that we develop for their real applicability.

 

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molecular modeling tissue engineering micro-bio-fluidynamics