Sebastian Skatulla, Dieter Legner, Ritesh R. Rama, James Mbewu, Carlo Sansour, Neil Davies, and Thomas Franz
Heart modelling, Myocardial infarction, Injection therapy, Meshfree methods
Myocardial infarction is an increasing health problem worldwide. Due to an under-supply of blood, the cardiomyocytes in the affected region permanently lose their ability to contract. This in turn gradually weakens the overall heart function. A new therapeutic approach based on the injection of gel into the infarcted area aims to support the healing and to inhibit adverse remodelling that can lead to heart failure. An accurate computational model is the basis for obtaining a better understanding of the heart mechanics, in particular, how myocardial infarction and gel injections affect its pumping performance. We are using the in-house code SESKA which is based on the meshfree moving least square approximation scheme as a computational framework. To model the passive mechanical behaviour we employ a nonlinear transversly isotropic material law. The main focus of this ontribution is to show how gel injections influence the mechanics of the left ventricle during diastolic filling and systolic isovolumetric contraction in the necrotic phase.
Important Links:
Go Back
