Cardiovascular Biomechanics and Medical Devices
Cardiovascular disease is one of the leading causes of death in the industrial world. Engineering technologies offer novel solutions to diagnose and treat cardiovascular diseases and improve long-term patient outcomes. Partnering with world-class vascular surgeons, cardiac surgeons, and cardiologists at the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre, University Health Network, and the Labatt Family Heart Centre, Hospital for Sick Children, we aim to use a multidisciplinary approach to solve critical problems related to congenital heart disease and aortic aneurysms.
Surgical Planning and Treatment of Congenital Heart Defects
Congenital heart defects are heart abnormalities at birth that occur in ~1% of the population. The most severe, such as tetralogy of Fallot or single ventricle physiology require one or more surgeries during the first few years of life and monitoring throughout adulthood. Using patient data and computational models, we aim to develop a surgical planning tool to improve long-term outcomes in patients with tetralogy of Fallot and a medical device to bridge patients with failing Fontan circulation (single ventricle physiology) to heart transplants.
Computational Models of Aortic Aneurysm Repairs
Aortic aneurysms are pathological dilations of the body’s main artery than can be treated with either open surgical repair or a minimally invasive medical device called a stent graft. In our lab we are interested in how stent grafts interact with the aorta during and after deployment and we use a combination of computational fluid dynamics and solid mechanics tools to study these interactions. We also use 4D flow magnetic resonance imaging and biaxial tensile test data to understand links between aortic blood flow and aortic wall mechanical properties.
