Computational Modeling of the Right Ventricular Flow Based on 2D Speckle-Tracking Echocardiography

Abstract

Due to the vital importance of research in cardiac hemodynamics, clinical imaging tools, while in progress, are still inadequate. This fact signifies the role of and the need for numerical simulations, especially in the right ventricle (RV), which is termed "the forgotten chamber/ventricle". In this study, a 3D numerical simulation of the RV flow is presented using data extracted via 2D echocardiography because it is an entirely noninvasive, comparably inexpensive, and easily available imaging method. A dynamic model was constructed by deriving ventricular wall displacements from the novel speckle-tracking echocardiography technique. The Navier–Stokes equations were solved via computational fluid dynamics methods; then, RV hemodynamic features such as volume, velocity field, pressure field, and ventricular wall shear stress distribution through 1 cardiac cycle were calculated and discussed. Given the lack of noninvasive and exclusive tools to report RV characteristics, this method can be utilized for RV function assessments.