Dynamic Imaging of Patient-Specific Fontan Vessel Configuration with Mechanical Circulatory Support

Friday, May 20, 2016

4:00 PM-5:30 PM

BIOMED Seminar

Title:
Dynamic Imaging of a Patient-Specific Fontan Vessel Configuration with Mechanical Circulatory Support

Speaker:

School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems
Drexel University

Details:
Thousands of babies are born each year with complex congenital heart defects. Some of these defects are so severe that instead of having two functioning pumping chambers or ventricles, there is only one functioning ventricle. Several surgeries are performed on these patients in early childhood culminating with the Fontan procedure. Despite the early success of the surgery on patient outcomes, these patients are burdened with lifelong complications that include liver and gastrointestinal disorders and blood clots. Over their lifespan, these patients utilize significant healthcare resources with hospitalization costs exceeding $1.4 billion per year and are considered a growing public health concern. Limited therapeutic options are available for these patients, but the growing field of mechanical circulatory support provides a viable alternative treatment option. However, many scientific questions about target blood flow conditions, feasibility, and general applicability still remain.

An intravascular blood pump for Fontan patients is under development. Dynamic imaging techniques have been utilized to examine the complex three-dimensional flow profiles inside of a patient-specific rapid-prototyped anatomic model with a novel intravascular axial-flow pump positioned in the inferior vena cava. These studies have included particle image velocimetry (3D-PIV) and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) studies. This presentation will describe the results of this research effort to date.

For more info, please visit drexel.edu/biomed.

WATCH WEBCAST

Biosketch:
Dr. Steven Chopski is a postdoctoral research fellow in the School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems at Drexel University. He earned a Doctor of Philosophy and Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering and a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering from Virginia Commonwealth University.

In 2015, Dr. Chopski was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship from the American Heart Association, which is supporting this research. Dr. Chopski has experience in computational and experimental fluid mechanics with an emphasis on the design and testing of the mechanical circulatory support devices. His research interests are in visualizing cardiovascular fluid dynamics in computational and experimental models.

Contact Information

Ken Barbee
215-895-1335
barbee@drexel.edu