Kwangbem “KB” Ko ’24, recent graduate from the master’s program in mechanical engineering, won first place in the Masters Student Paper Competition Cardiovascular category at the 2024 Biomechanics, Bioengineering, and Biotransport Conference (SB3C), held in Lake Geneva, WI. Ko was a member of the Mittal Lab and is entering the bioengineering and bioengineering doctoral program at Stanford University this fall.
Paper title: “Computational Study on the Hemodynamics of Bioprosthetic Pulmonary Valves in Patients with Repaired Tetralogy of Fallot”
Kwangbem “KB” Ko
Abstract: Tetralogy of Fallot is a congenital heart disease that requires early surgical intervention through repair surgery. However, many patients ultimately require pulmonary valve replacement surgeries later in life, where the native valve is replaced with a bioprosthetic valve implant. In addition, these patients often receive multiple valve re-replacement surgeries. This is due to the mechanical degradation of the valve implant which limits the longevity of the valve. Valve re-replacements tend to increase the risk of additional complications. Thus, the focus of our study was to determine if intentional positioning of the valve implant along optimal orientations could improve the hemodynamics to increase valve longevity. We developed a computational pipeline to obtain estimates of valve implant orientations from CT and MR-Angiogram images of patients, and we performed and analyzed computational fluid dynamics simulations to determine correlations between valve implant geometry and the hemodynamics. Our early results suggest that optimal valve implant orientations exist, and that favorable hemodynamics (i.e., increased valve longevity) can be achieved through intentional positioning of the valve implant.