Multi-resolution geometric modeling of the mitral heart valve leaflets

Simulation of Mitral Valve Plasticity in Response to Myocardial Infarction

Left ventricular myocardial infarction (MI) has broad and debilitating effects on cardiac function. In many cases, MI leads to ischemic mitral regurgitation (IMR), a condition characterized by incompetency of the mitral valve (MV). IMR has many deleterious effects as well as a high mortality rate. While various clinical treatments for IMR exist, success of these procedures remains limited, in large part because IMR dramatically alters the geometry and function of the MV in ways that are currently not well understood. Previous investigations of post-MI MV remodeling have elucidated that MV tissues have a significant ability to undergo a form of permanent inelastic deformations in the first phase of the post-MI period. These changes appear to be attributable to the altered loading and boundary conditions on the MV itself, as opposed to an independent pathophysiological process. Mechanistically, these results suggest that the MV mostly responds passively to MI during the first 8 weeks post-MI by undergoing a permanent deformation. In the present study, we developed the first computational model of this post-MI MV remodeling process, which we term "mitral valve plasticity." Integrating methodologies and insights from previous studies of in vivo ovine MV function, image-based patient-specific model development, and post-MI MV adaptation, we constructed a representative geometric model of a pre-MI MV. We then performed finite element simulations of the entire MV apparatus under time-dependent boundary conditions and accounting for changes to material properties equivalent to those observed 0-8 weeks post-MI. Our results suggest that during this initial period of adaptation, the MV response to MI can be accurately modeled using a soft tissue plasticity approach, similar to permanent set frameworks that have been applied previously in the context of exogenously crosslinked tissues.

Semi-Automated Construction of Patient-Specific Aortic Valves from Computed Tomography Images

This paper presents a semi-automatic method for the construction of volumetric models of the aortic valve using computed tomography angiography images. Although the aortic valve typically cannot be segmented directly from a computed tomography angiography image, the method described herein uses manually selected samples of an aortic segmentation derived from this image to inform the construction. These samples capture certain physiologic landmarks and are used to construct a volumetric valve model. As a demonstration of the capabilities of this method, valve models for 25 pediatric patients are created. A selected valve anatomy is used to perform fluid-structure interaction simulations using the immersed finite element/difference method with physiologic driving and loading conditions. Simulation results demonstrate this method creates a functional valve that opens and closes normally and generates pressure and flow waveforms that are similar to those observed clinically.

In vivo assessment of mitral valve leaflet remodelling following myocardial infarction

Each year, more than 40,000 people undergo mitral valve (MV) repair surgery domestically to treat regurgitation caused by myocardial infarction (MI). Although continual MV tissue remodelling following repair is believed to be a major contributor to regurgitation recurrence, the effects of the post-MI state on MV remodelling remain poorly understood. This lack of understanding limits our ability to predict the remodelling of the MV both post-MI and post-surgery to facilitate surgical planning. As a necessary first step, the present study was undertaken to noninvasively quantify the effects of MI on MV remodelling in terms of leaflet geometry and deformation. MI was induced in eight adult Dorset sheep, and real-time three-dimensional echocardiographic (rt-3DE) scans were collected pre-MI as well as at 0, 4, and 8 weeks post-MI. A previously validated image-based morphing pipeline was used to register corresponding open- and closed-state scans and extract local in-plane strains throughout the leaflet surface at systole. We determined that MI induced permanent changes in leaflet dimensions in the diastolic configuration, which increased with time to 4 weeks, then stabilised. MI substantially affected the systolic shape of the MV, and the range of stretch experienced by the MV leaflet at peak systole was substantially reduced when referred to the current time-point. Interestingly, when we referred the leaflet strains to the pre-MI configuration, the systolic strains remained very similar throughout the post-MI period. Overall, we observed that post-MI ventricular remodeling induced permanent changes in the MV leaflet shape. This predominantly affected the MV's diastolic configuration, leading in turn to a significant decrease in the range of stretch experienced by the leaflet when referenced to the current diastolic configuration. These findings are consistent with our previous work that demonstrated increased plastic (i.e. non-recoverable) leaflet deformations post-MI, that was completely accounted for by the associated changes in collagen fiber structure. Moreover, we demonstrated through noninvasive methods that the state of the MV leaflet can elucidate the progression and extent of MV adaptation following MI and is thus highly relevant to the design of current and novel patient specific minimally invasive surgical repair strategies.

Pre-surgical Prediction of Ischemic Mitral Regurgitation Recurrence Using In Vivo Mitral Valve Leaflet Strains

Ischemic mitral regurgitation (IMR) is a prevalent cardiac disease associated with substantial morbidity and mortality. Contemporary surgical treatments continue to have limited long-term success, in part due to the complex and multi-factorial nature of IMR. There is thus a need to better understand IMR etiology to guide optimal patient specific treatments. Herein, we applied our finite element-based shape-matching technique to non-invasively estimate peak systolic leaflet strains in human mitral valves (MVs) from in-vivo 3D echocardiographic images taken immediately prior to and post-annuloplasty repair. From a total of 21 MVs, we found statistically significant differences in pre-surgical MV size, shape, and deformation patterns between the with and without IMR recurrence patient groups at 6 months post-surgery. Recurrent MVs had significantly less compressive circumferential strains in the anterior commissure region compared to the recurrent MVs (p = 0.0223) and were significantly larger. A logistic regression analysis revealed that average pre-surgical circumferential leaflet strain in the Carpentier A1 region independently predicted 6-month recurrence of IMR (optimal cutoff value - 18%, p = 0.0362). Collectively, these results suggest greater disease progression in the recurrent group and underscore the highly patient-specific nature of IMR. Importantly, the ability to identify such factors pre-surgically could be used to guide optimal treatment methods to reduce post-surgical IMR recurrence.

Parameterization, geometric modeling, and isogeometric analysis of tricuspid valves

Approximately 1.6 million patients in the United States are affected by tricuspid valve regurgitation, which occurs when the tricuspid valve does not close properly to prevent backward blood flow into the right atrium. Despite its critical role in proper cardiac function, the tricuspid valve has received limited research attention compared to the mitral and aortic valves on the left side of the heart. As a result, proper valvular function and the pathologies that may cause dysfunction remain poorly understood. To promote further investigations of the biomechanical behavior and response of the tricuspid valve, this work establishes a parameter-based approach that provides a template for tricuspid valve modeling and simulation. The proposed tricuspid valve parameterization presents a comprehensive description of the leaflets and the complex chordae tendineae for capturing the typical three-cusp structural deformation observed from medical data. This simulation framework develops a practical procedure for modeling tricuspid valves and offers a robust, flexible approach to analyze the performance and effectiveness of various valve configurations using isogeometric analysis. The proposed methods also establish a baseline to examine the tricuspid valve's structural deformation, perform future investigations of native valve configurations under healthy and disease conditions, and optimize prosthetic valve designs.

Mitral valve leaflet response to ischaemic mitral regurgitation: from gene expression to tissue remodelling

Ischaemic mitral regurgitation (IMR), a frequent complication following myocardial infarction (MI), leads to higher mortality and poor clinical prognosis if untreated. Accumulating evidence suggests that mitral valve (MV) leaflets actively remodel post MI, and this remodelling increases both the severity of IMR and the occurrence of MV repair failures. However, the mechanisms of extracellular matrix maintenance and modulation by MV interstitial cells (MVICs) and their impact on MV leaflet tissue integrity and repair failure remain largely unknown. Herein, we sought to elucidate the multiscale behaviour of IMR-induced MV remodelling using an established ovine model. Leaflet tissue at eight weeks post MI exhibited significant permanent plastic radial deformation, eliminating mechanical anisotropy, accompanied by altered leaflet composition. Interestingly, no changes in effective collagen fibre modulus were observed, with MVICs slightly rounder, at eight weeks post MI. RNA sequencing indicated that YAP-induced genes were elevated at four weeks post MI, indicating elevated mechanotransduction. Genes related to extracellular matrix organization were downregulated at four weeks post MI when IMR occurred. Transcriptomic changes returned to baseline by eight weeks post MI. This multiscale study suggests that IMR induces plastic deformation of the MV with no functional damage to the collagen fibres, providing crucial information for computational simulations of the MV in IMR.

Geometric description for the anatomy of the mitral valve: A review

The mitral valve is a complex anatomical structure whose physiological functioning relies on the biomechanical properties and structural integrity of its components. Their compromise can lead to mitral valve dysfunction, associated with morbidity and mortality. Therefore, a review on the morphometry of the mitral valve is crucial, more specifically on the importance of valve dimensions and shape for its function. This review initially provides a brief background on the anatomy and physiology of the mitral valve, followed by an analysis of the morphological information available. A characterisation of mathematical descriptions of several parts of the valve is performed and the impact of different dimensions and shape changes in disease is then outlined. Finally, a section regarding future directions and recommendations for the use of morphometric information in clinical analysis of the mitral valve is presented.

On the simulation of mitral valve function in health, disease, and treatment

The mitral valve (MV) is the heart valve that regulates blood ?ow between the left atrium and left ventricle (LV). In situations where the MV fails to fully cover the left atrioventricular ori?ce during systole, the resulting regurgitation causes pulmonary congestion, leading to heart failure and/or stroke. The causes of MV insuf?ciency can be either primary (e.g. myxomatous degeneration) where the valvular tissue is organically diseased, or secondary (typically inducded by ischemic cardiomyopathy) termed ischemic mitral regurgitation (IMR), is brought on by adverse LV remodeling. IMR is present in up to 40% of patients and more than doubles the probability of cardiovascular morbidity after 3.5 years. There is now agreement that adjunctive procedures are required to treat IMR caused by lea?et tethering. However, there is no consensus regarding the best procedure. Multicenter registries and randomized trials would be necessary to prove which procedure is superior. Given the number of proposed procedures and the complexity and duration of such studies, it is highly unlikely that IMR procedure optimization will be achieved by prospective clinical trials. There is thus an urgent need for cell and tissue physiologically based quantitative assessments of MV function to better design surgical solutions and associated therapies. Novel computational approaches directed towards optimized surgical repair procedures can substantially reduce the need for such trial-and-error approaches. We present the details of our MV modeling techniques, with an emphasis on what is known and investigated at various length scales.

Development of a Functionally Equivalent Model of the Mitral Valve Chordae Tendineae Through Topology Optimization

Ischemic mitral regurgitation (IMR) is a currently prevalent disease in the US that is projected to become increasingly common as the aging population grows. In recent years, image-based simulations of mitral valve (MV) function have improved significantly, providing new tools to refine IMR treatment. However, clinical implementation of MV simulations has long been hindered as the in vivo MV chordae tendineae (MVCT) geometry cannot be captured with sufficient fidelity for computational modeling. In the current study, we addressed this challenge by developing a method to produce functionally equivalent MVCT models that can be built from the image-based MV leaflet geometry alone. We began our analysis using extant micron-resolution 3D imaging datasets to first build anatomically accurate MV models. We then systematically simplified the native MVCT structure to generate a series of synthetic models by consecutively removing key anatomic features, such as the thickness variations, branching patterns, and chordal origin distributions. In addition, through topology optimization, we identified the minimal structural complexity required to capture the native MVCT behavior. To assess the performance and predictive power of each synthetic model, we analyzed their performance by comparing the mismatch in simulated MV closed shape, as well as the strain and stress tensors, to ground-truth MV models. Interestingly, our results revealed a substantial redundancy in the anatomic structure of native chordal anatomy. We showed that the closing behavior of complete MV apparatus under normal, diseased, and surgically repaired scenarios can be faithfully replicated by a functionally equivalent MVCT model comprised of two representative papillary muscle heads, single strand chords, and a uniform insertion distribution with a density of 15 insertions/cm2. Hence, even though the complete sub-valvular structure is mostly missing in in vivo MV images, we believe our approach will allow for the development of patient-specific complete MV models for surgical repair planning.

A noninvasive method for the determination of in vivo mitral valve leaflet strains

Assessment of mitral valve (MV) function is important in many diagnostic, prognostic, and surgical planning applications for treatment of MV disease. Yet, to date, there are no accepted noninvasive methods for determination of MV leaflet deformation, which is a critical metric of MV function. In this study, we present a novel, completely noninvasive computational method to estimate MV leaflet in-plane strains from clinical-quality real-time three-dimensional echocardiography (rt-3DE) images. The images were first segmented to produce meshed medial-surface leaflet geometries of the open and closed states. To establish material point correspondence between the two states, an image-based morphing pipeline was implemented within a finite element (FE) modeling framework in which MV closure was simulated by pressurizing the open-state geometry, and local corrective loads were applied to enforce the actual MV closed shape. This resulted in a complete map of local systolic leaflet membrane strains, obtained from the final FE mesh configuration. To validate the method, we utilized an extant in vitro database of fiducially labeled MVs, imaged in conditions mimicking both the healthy and diseased states. Our method estimated local anisotropic in vivo strains with less than 10% error and proved to be robust to changes in boundary conditions similar to those observed in ischemic MV disease. Next, we applied our methodology to ovine MVs imaged in vivo with rt-3DE and compared our results to previously published findings of in vivo MV strains in the same type of animal as measured using surgically sutured fiducial marker arrays. In regions encompassed by fiducial markers, we found no significant differences in circumferential(P = 0.240) or radial (P = 0.808) strain estimates between the marker-based measurements and our novel noninvasive method. This method can thus be used for model validation as well as for studies of MV disease and repair.

The Three-Dimensional Microenvironment of the Mitral Valve: Insights into the Effects of Physiological Loads

INTRODUCTION

In the mitral valve (MV), numerous pathological factors, especially those resulting from changes in external loading, have been shown to affect MV structure and composition. Such changes are driven by the MV interstitial cell (MVIC) population via protein synthesis and enzymatic degradation of extracellular matrix (ECM) components.

METHODS

While cell phenotype, ECM composition and regulation, and tissue level changes in MVIC shape under stress have been studied, a detailed understanding of the three-dimensional (3D) microstructural mechanisms are lacking. As a first step in addressing this challenge, we applied focused ion beam scanning electron microscopy (FIB-SEM) to reveal novel details of the MV microenvironment in 3D.

RESULTS

We demonstrated that collagen is organized into large fibers consisting of an average of 605 ± 113 fibrils, with a mean diameter of 61.2 ± 9.8 nm. In contrast, elastin was organized into two distinct structural subtypes: (1) sheet-like lamellar elastin, and (2) circumferentially oriented elastin struts, based on both the aspect ratio and transmural tilt. MVICs were observed to have a large cytoplasmic volume, as evidenced by the large mean surface area to volume ratio 3.68 ± 0.35, which increased under physiological loading conditions to 4.98 ± 1.17.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings suggest that each MVIC mechanically interacted only with the nearest 3-4 collagen fibers. This key observation suggests that in developing multiscale MV models, each MVIC can be considered a mechanically integral part of the local fiber ensemble and is unlikely to be influenced by more distant structures.