Computational Fluid Dynamics Within the Left Ventricle of Mice

Abstract

Heart disease affects many and accounts for a large portion of deaths in the United States. Research into CFD modeling of the left ventricle (LV) can help gain an understanding in this dilemma. The purpose of this study was to examine two different heart models and compare the fluid dynamic alterations between the two. A two-dimensional model of a healthy mouse LV was simulated and processed to visualize the streamlines and vortices for comparison to a previous study performed by Dr. Maysam Mousaviraad on a healthy mouse LV with only one valve at the aorta for both inflow and outflow. The results show that the fluid flow was similar between the two cases for systole, yet the flow evolved differently during diastole. Afterwards, directions for future work in the field of fluid flow in mice hearts is briefly discussed.