抄録
Three bi-leaflet prostheses, the St. Jude Medical (SJM) and the On-X valves with straight leaflets and the MIRA valves with curved leaflets were tested in the aortic position under pulsatile-flow condition. Dynamic PIV system, which was employed to analyze the flow field affected by the valve-installed orientations, leaflet shapes, and valve designs, and direct measurement of the coronary flow using ultrasonic flow meter were utilized to correlate the results of aortic flow field to coronary flow. Direct measurement of coronary flow clearly shows the increase of flow rate when the circulatory flow inside the sinus of valsalva increase indicating the positive correlation exist between the circulatory flow inside the sinus of valsalva and the coronary flow.
