École Nationale Supérieure de
Techniques Avancées

Abstract

The mitral valve is one of the four cardiac valves which keep blood flowing in the correct direction. It is located in the left side of the heart, separating the left atrium and the left ventricle. An estimated 2% of people around the world shows symptoms of mitral valve disease, if left untreated, this disease can lead to serious life-threatening complications. In these cases, the mitral valve can either be replaced or repaired. For a long time, the mitral valve itself has been the main concern for clinicians, and it is now acknowledged that its positioning with respect to the ventricle apex is of significant importance. Indeed, a misplaced valve leads to abnormal intraventricular flows increasing the workload and modifying the ventricle shape. The purpose of this study is to apply the mathematical concept of "braids" to analyze the features of the heart flow in order to determine whether an intraventricular flow corresponds to a healthy valve configuration. The study is realized processing the data from an in-vitro heart simulator, using an existing Matlab package.