A 3-DIMENSIONAL ANALYSIS OF A FIBER-REINFORCED AORTIC-VALVE PROSTHESIS

Failure of synthetic heart valves is usually caused by tearing and cal cification of the leaflets. It is postulated that leaflet fibre-reinfo rcement leads to a decrease of tears and perforations as a result of r educed stresses in the weaker parts of the leaflets. A three-dimension al finite element model of a reinforced three-leaflet valve prosthesis was developed to analyse the stress reduction. Different fibre reinfo rcements were investigated and the model responses were analysed for s tresses that are expected to contribute to failure of fibre-reinforced valve prostheses. Results of these simulations show that, in peak str ess areas of reinforced models, up to 60% of the maximum principal str esses is taken over by fibres and that, in some cases of reinforcement , a more homogeneous stress distribution is obtained. (C) 1998 Elsevie r Science Ltd. All rights reserved.