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SEQUENCE:1
X-APPLE-TRAVEL-ADVISORY-BEHAVIOR:AUTOMATIC
UID:236801
DTSTAMP:20260529T131607Z
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260611T140000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260611T150000
URL;TYPE=URI:https://www.wpi.edu/news/calendar/events/bme-phd-defense-suche
 ta-tamragouri-assessment-growth-adaptive-pediatric-heart-valves-through-mi
 lli
SUMMARY:BME PhD Defense: Sucheta Tamragouri: "Assessment of Growth Adaptive
  Pediatric Heart Valves through Milli-PIV and Dye Injection”
LOCATION:United States
DESCRIPTION:\n\n\n      \n      \n\n\n\n"Assessment of Growth Adaptive Pedi
 atric Heart Valves through Milli-PIV and Dye Injection”\nSucheta Tamragour
 i \nAbstract: Congenital heart defects are the most common birth defects a
 nd often involve heart valve abnormalities. In pediatric patients, heart v
 alve replacement remains challenging because most prosthetic valves are fi
 xed in size and cannot accommodate somatic growth. As a child grows, the i
 mplanted valve may no longer meet the patient’s physiological needs, neces
 sitating repeated invasive interventions. Growth-adaptive pediatric heart 
 valves (GAP-HVs) are being developed to address this problem. However, bec
 ause these valves are intended to change geometry with growth, evaluation 
 is not straightforward; and moreover, testing approaches for pediatric val
 ves remain limited. Current valve testing mainly focuses on global measure
 ments such as pressure drop, effective orifice area, and leakage. These me
 asurements are necessary, but they do not fully describe how flow behaves 
 in and around the valve. Regions of slow-moving flow, concentrated jets, r
 ecirculation, or elevated shear may still occur even when overall valve fu
 nction appears acceptable. These features are especially important at pedi
 atric scales, where small geometric changes can have a large effect on flo
 w structure. The objective of this dissertation was to develop, validate, 
 and apply a pediatric-scale experimental workflow for evaluating pediatric
  prosthetic valves. The workflow combined dye-based flow visualization wit
 h millimeter-scale particle image velocimetry (milli-PIV). Dye injection w
 as used to quantify how quickly fluid cleared from a region, while milli-P
 IV was used to measure velocity fields and shear-related flow behavior. Th
 e methods were first developed in a simplified model which allowed the par
 ameters to be optimized before being applied to valve testing. After valid
 ation, the workflow was used to evaluate pediatric prosthetic valves acros
 s growth-relevant size states. A GAP-HV prototype and a clinically used va
 lve were tested under pediatric-relevant flow conditions. Standard measure
 ments showed that larger valve sizes were generally associated with improv
 ed forward-flow performance. The workflow measurements, however, showed di
 fferences that were not captured by global values alone: larger valve stat
 es had faster clearance from sinus-like regions, while downstream flow pat
 terns and shear behavior depended on both valve size and geometry. These f
 indings support the need for flow measurements when evaluating GAP-HVs. Fi
 nally, the workflow was applied in a patient-specific pulmonary artery mod
 el to study how valve placement affects downstream flow. A pediatric valve
  was tested in two rotational positions. Changing the valve orientation al
 tered branch flow distribution, downstream jet structure, recirculation pa
 tterns, and wall shear stress. One orientation produced a more organized d
 ownstream flow pattern, while the other produced a more diffuse flow field
  with greater curvature and local flow reversal. This showed that placemen
 t, in addition to valve geometry, can influence the local flow environment
 . Overall, this dissertation establishes an experimental workflow for pedi
 atric prosthetic valve assessment that combines standard measurements with
  flow visualization and velocity-field analysis. The results showed that g
 rowth-related changes in valve geometry can affect local flow structure an
 d clearance behavior in ways that are not fully described by the current s
 tandard measurements. By providing a way to measure how valve geometry and
  placement affect local flow, this workflow can support future preclinical
  valve testing, patient-specific placement studies, and design refinement 
 for pediatric valve technologies.\nFor a zoom link, please email kharrison
 @wpi.edu \n\n\n\nDissertation Advisor:\nCommittee Chair:\n\n\n\n\nZhenglun
  “Alan” Wei, PhD\nAssistant Professor\nBiomedical Engineering\nWorcester P
 olytechnic Institute \n\n\nKris Billiar, PhD\nProfessor\nBiomedical Engine
 ering\nWorcester Polytechnic Institute\n\n\n\n\nDefense Committee:\n\n\n\n
 \n\n\nSolomon Mensah, PhD\nAssistant Professor\nBiomedical Engineering\nWo
 rcester Polytechnic Institute\n\n\nYihao Zheng, PhD\nAssistant Professor\n
 Mechanical Engineering\nWorcester Polytechnic Institute\n\n\nCorin William
 s, PhD\nBiomedical Engineer\n\nDraper\n\n\nSitaram Emani, MD\nAssociate Pr
 ofessor\nCardiovascular Program\nHarvard Medical School\n\n\n\n\n
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