abstract: Aortic pathologies such as coarctation, dissection, and aneurysm represent a particularly emergent class of cardiovascular diseases and account for significant cardiovascular morbidity and mortality worldwide. Computational simulations of aortic flows are growing increasingly important as tools for gaining understanding of these pathologies and for planning their surgical repair. In vitro experiments are required to validate these simulations against real world data, and a pulsatile flow pump system can provide physiologic flow conditions characteristic of the aorta. This dissertation presents improved experimental techniques for in vitro aortic blood flow and the increasingly larger parts of the human cardiovascular system. Specifically, this work develops new flow management and measurement techniques for cardiovascular flow experiments with the aim to improve clinical evaluation and treatment planning of aortic diseases. The hypothesis of this research is that transient flow driven by a step change in volume flux in a piston-based pulsatile flow pump system behaves differently from transient flow driven by a step change in pressure gradient, the development time being substantially reduced in the former. Due to this difference in behavior, the response to a piston-driven pump can be predicted in order to establish inlet velocity and flow waveforms at a downstream phantom model. The main objectives of this dissertation were: 1) to design, construct, and validate a piston-based flow pump system for aortic flow experiments, 2) to characterize temporal and spatial development of start-up flows driven by a piston pump that produces a step change from zero flow to a constant volume flux in realistic (finite) tube geometries for physiologic Reynolds numbers, and 3) to develop a method to predict downstream velocity and flow waveforms at the inlet of an aortic phantom model and determine the input waveform needed to achieve the intended waveform at the test section. Application of these newly improved flow management tools and measurement techniques were then demonstrated through in vitro experiments in patient-specific coarctation of aorta flow phantom models manufactured in-house and compared to computational simulations to inform and execute future experiments and simulations. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Bioengineering 2015

[pt] A estenose aórtica é um dos mais graves problemas decorrentes de doenças valvares. O implante da prótese valvar aórtica por cateterismo (TAVI) vem se tornando o tratamento mais indicado aos pacientes de alto risco ou inoperáveis. A estenose aórtica grave pode ser uma condição de risco à vida quando não tratada. Devido à natureza do procedimento TAVI, é esperada uma variabilidade no ângulo de inclinação da válvula implantada. O presente trabalho investigou a influência das variações de inclinação e orientação do jato transvalvar sobre o escoamento em aorta ascendente. A compreensão dos padrões hemodinâmicos do fluxo sanguíneo em aorta ascendente é importante porque eles estão intimamente relacionados ao desenvolvimento de doenças cardiovasculares. Para este fim, um modelo vascular com geometria anatômica de paciente específico foi produzido a partir de imagens de tomografia computadorizada, gerando um protótipo impresso em 3D e resina de silicone transparente. Uma configuração especial foi projetada para permitir medições tridimensionais do fluxo em diferentes seções transversais do modelo aórtico. A técnica de velocimetria por imagens estereoscópicas de partículas foi implementada para produzir informações estatísticas acerca do fluxo turbulento, tais como, campos tridimensionais de velocidade média, de energia cinética turbulenta e correlações entre os componentes de flutuação de velocidade. Os resultados obtidos indicaram que o escoamento em aorta ascendente é fortemente afetado pela direção do fluxo de entrada na aorta. / [en] Aortic stenosis is one of the most serious problems arising from valve diseases. Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI) has become the preferred treatment for high-risk or inoperable patients with severe aortic stenosis that could be a lifethreatening condition when left untreated. Due to the nature of the TAVI procedure, a variability on the tilt angle of the deployed valve is expected. The present work, investigated the effects on the flow field in the ascending aorta due angle variation of the transvalvular jet. Understanding the hemodynamic patterns of blood flow in the ascending aorta is important because they are closely related to the development of cardiovascular diseases. To this end, a patient-specific vascular phantom was produced by a 3D printed model and transparent silicon resin. A special setup was designed to allow measurements of the 3D flow at different cross sections of the aorta. A stereoscopic particle image velocimetry system was implemented to yield instantaneous and averaged turbulent flow information, such as three-dimensional average velocity fields, turbulent kinetic energy, and correlations between the components of velocity fluctuation. The results obtained indicated that the velocity field in the ascending aorta is strongly affected by the inlet flow direction into the aorta.