On the multiscale modeling of heart valve biomechanics in health and disease

摘要

Theoretical models of the human heart valves are useful tools for understanding and characterizing the dynamics of healthy and diseased valves. Enabled by advances in numerical modeling and in a range of disciplines within experimental biomechanics, recent models of the heart valves have become increasingly comprehensive and accurate. In this paper, we first review the fundamentals of native heart valve physiology, composition and mechanics in health and disease.We will then furnish an overviewof the development of theoretical and experimental methods in modeling heart valve biomechanics over the past three decades. Next, we will emphasize the necessity of using multiscale modeling approaches in order to provide a comprehensive description of heart valve biomechanics able to capture general heart valve behavior. Finally,wewill offer an outlook for the future of valvemultiscalemodeling, the potential directions for further developments and the challenges involved.