Computer simulation of blood flow, left ventricular wall motion and their interrelationship by fluid-structure interaction finite element method

Abstract

To simulate fluid-structure interaction involved in the contraction of a human left ventricle, a 3D finite element based simulation program incorporating the propagation of excitation and excitation-contraction coupling mechanisms was developed. An ALE finite element method with automatic mesh updating was formulated for large domain changes, and a strong coupling strategy was taken. Under the assumption that the inertias of both fluid and structure are negligible and fluid-structure interaction is restricted to the pressure on the interface, the fluid dynamics part was eliminated from the FSI program, and a static structural FEM code corresponding to the cardiac muscles was also developed. The simulations of the contraction of the left ventricle in normal excitation and arrhythmia demonstrated the capability of the proposed method. Also, the results obtained by the two methods are compared. These simulators can be powerful tools in the clinical practice of heart disease.