2010-12-072010-12http://hdl.handle.net/2346/ETD-TTU-2010-12-1157Edge-to-Edge repair (ETER) is one of the mitral valve (MV) repair techniques frequently used in MV disease treatment. The hemodynamic changes caused by ETER may cause clinical complications such as thrombus formation and affect left ventricle function. However, the detailed information about the hemodynamic changes after ETER is very limited and therefore needs further exploration. The objective of this study is to provide further understanding of the fluid mechanics under mitral valve ETER. We develop two specific aims to achieve the objective. The first one is to explore the peak diastolic hemodynamic change immediately downstream of MV after ETER by in vitro steady flow experiment. The findings of the experiment show us the changes of MV hemodynamics under different ETER suture configurations. The second specific aim is to study the vortex dynamics inside left ventricle by both pulsatile flow experiment and computational simulation. By the investigation of the vortex ring structure under ETER, we find vortex reconnection may appear under short suture configuration. ETER may have better washout effect compared with normal valve and short suture under ETER may have best performance in kinetic energy dissipation. The fluid dynamic changes under ETER in this study not only reveal the possible clinical complications under certain suture configurations but also show the effect of vortex development change on the left ventricular efficiency, which may have relation with left ventricular dysfunction. Therefore, we suggest surgeon’s attention on the selection of proper suture configurations in regard to the findings of this dissertation.application/pdfengLeft ventricle flowEdge-to-edge repairVortex dynamicsDissertationUnrestricted.