In vitro study of blood flow in aortic valve and Valsalva sinus

Abstract

One of the known cure for ascending aortic aneurysm is the vascular grafting surgery using composite graft. However, almost all conservative grafts don't have Valsalva sinus, and influence of the existence of the Valsalva sinus has not been clarified. In order to understand the effect of the Valsalva sinuses, some realistic models of aortic valve were manufactured. In this study, we have produced modeled aortic valves by using three-dimensional modeling machine, and have investigated the effect of its existence and the leading angle of coronary artery on blood flow and the flow field in the Valsalva sinus. As the result, it was found that the amplitude of coronary flow rate in the model with Valsalva sinus is smaller than that of the model without Valsalva sinus and that displacement of the valve leaflet of which the model has Valsalva sinus is smaller than that of model without Valsalva sinus.