Patient-Based Cardiovascular Device Simulations: From Bench to Bed
by Matthieu De Beule (FEops)
Minimally invasive cardiovascular devices such as coronary stents and aortic stent-grafts have been around for many years, yet not all patient complications related to these devices are resolved. And while solutions are still being investigated for these devices, a new generation of minimally invasive devices has reached the horizon: transcatheter heart valves.
Percutaneous pulmonary and aortic valves are available as a first and second-generation now, and although they already provide a viable option for very sick patients, these devices will require large engineering improvements in the next years. In January-February 2014, several first-in-human implantations of transcatheter mitral valves have been performed.
The mitral valve is regarded as one of the most complex anatomies in the human body, thus making this implant design an enormous challenge.
