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Biomechanical data and related constitutive modelling of the mitral apparatus served as a basis for finite element analyses to better understand the physiology of mitral valves in health and disease. Human anterior and posterior leaflets and chordae tendinae from an elderly heart showing no disease and a hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathic heart (HOCM) were mechanically tested by means of uniaxial cyclic extension tests under quasi-static conditions. Experimental data for the leaflets and the chordae tendinae showed highly nonlinear mechanical behaviours and the leaflets were anisotropic. The mitral valve from the HOCM heart exhibited a significantly softer behaviour than the valve from the healthy one. A comparison with porcine data was included because many previous mitral modelling studies have been based on porcine data. Some differences in mechanical response were observed. Material parameters for hyperelastic, transversely isotropic constitutive laws were determined. The experimental data and the related model parameters were used in two finite element studies to investigate the effects of the material properties on the mitral valve response during systole. The analyses showed that during systole the mitral valve from the HOCM heart bulged into the left atrium by taking on the shape of a balloon, whereas the anterior leaflet of the healthy valve remained in the left ventricle., QC 20100525

The present study addresses constitutive modelling and implementation of transversely isotropic hyperelastic material models for the analysis of the mitral valve. This valve separates the left atrium and left ventricle in the heart. Two convex strain energy potentials are employed in derivation of stress tensors and elasticity tensors. The plane stress and incompressibility conditions are accounted for directly. The relationships are implemented in an implicit code (ABAQUS) via the user-defined interface. Numerical simulations of the valve motion during a part of the heart cycle are carried out and compared to ultrasound measurements of a healthy human valve. The significance of placement of chordae tendinae is illustrated. The implementation provides a tool for simulations of both healthy and pathological mitral valve conditions.