PhD Defense: Lorenzo Ferrari Assesses Hemodynamics of Heart Valve Prostheses

In this thesis, Lorenzo assessed the hemodynamics of different heart valve prostheses (HVPs) through a pulse duplicator coupled with tomographic particle image velocimetry (tomo-PIV) to evaluate the role of valve design and cardiac conditions. By testing and comparing different prostheses at varying cardiac outputs and pressures, he sought to address the gap in existing HVP studies which primarily focus on single valve types and valve dimensions, while tackling the limited comparability due to heterogeneous testing protocols.

Lorenzo’s main findings provided comprehensive insights on how the flow characteristics downstream of HVP are influenced by different designs, sizes and hemodynamic conditions. His thesis provides the first experimental flow assessment of a TRIFLO valve as well as a Xeltis engineered tissue valve in pulmonary position.

Congratulations to Dr. Lorenzo Ferrari on this incredible achievement in contributing to the study of heart valve prostheses and their continued optimization!

Publications:

Ferrari, Lorenzo; Obrist, Dominik (2024). Comparison of Hemodynamic Performance, Three-Dimensional Flow Fields, and Turbulence Levels for Three Different Heart Valves at Three Different Hemodynamic Conditions. Annals of Biomedical Engineering 52, pp. 3196-3207. Springer Nature 10.1007/s10439-024-03584-z

Ferrari, Lorenzo; Bartkevics, Maris; Jenni, Hansjörg; Kadner, Alexander; Siepe, Matthias; Obrist, Dominik (2024). Evaluation of extra-corporeal membrane oxygenator cannulae in pulsatile and non-pulsatile pediatric mock circuits. Artificial Organs 49, pp. 420-430. Wiley 10.1111/aor.14897