Haemodynamic performance of 16–20-mm extracardiac Goretex conduits in adolescent Fontan patients at rest and during simulated exercise

OBJECTIVES: To date, it is not known if 16–20-mm extracardiac conduits are outgrown during somatic growth from childhood to adolescence. This study aims to determine total cavopulmonary connection (TCPC) haemodynamics in adolescent Fontan patients at rest and during simulated exercise and to assess the relationship between conduit size and...

Influence of aortic aneurysm on the local distribution of NO and O₂ using image-based computational fluid dynamics

There is a pressing need to establish novel biomarkers to predict the progression of thoracic aortic aneurysm (TAA) dilatation. Aside from hemodynamics, the roles of oxygen (O₂) and nitric oxide (NO) in TAA pathogenesis are potentially significant. As such, it is imperative to comprehend the relationship between aneurysm presence...

Slimme Mobiliteit voor beleidsmakers

Beleidsmakers binnen het domein mobiliteit krijgen in toenemende mate te maken met ‘intelligente’ oftewel slimme technologieën. Hoewel dit domein van oudsher het speelveld is van professionals met een achtergrond in, planning, openbaar bestuur en ontwerp, zijn er ondertussen talrijke veelbelovende ontwikkelingen gaande die in sterke mate IT...

Estimated ECG Subtraction method for removing ECG artifacts in esophageal recordings of diaphragm EMG

The accuracy of diaphragm electromyogram (EMGdi) derived parameters, as used in critically ill intensive care unit (ICU) patients, can be compromised due to electrocardiographic (ECG) interference in the EMGdi signal. Removal of ECG contamination from the esophageal recordings of the EMGdi is challenging due to spectral overlapping of EMG and...

Assessment of turbulent blood flow and wall shear stress in aortic coarctation using image-based simulations

In this study, we analyzed turbulent flows through a phantom (a 180^∘ bend with narrowing) at peak systole and a patient-specific coarctation of the aorta (CoA), with a pulsating flow, using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computational fluid dynamics (CFD). For MRI, a 4D-flow MRI is performed using a 3T scanner. For CFD, the...

Geometrically induced wall shear stress variability in CFD-MRI coupled simulations of blood flow in the thoracic aortas

Aortic aneurysm is associated with aberrant blood flow and wall shear stress (WSS). This can be studied by coupling magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with computational fluid dynamics (CFD). For patient-specific simulations, extra attention should be given to the variation in segmentation of the MRI data-set and its effect on WSS. We performed...

Non-uniform mixing of hepatic venous flow and inferior vena cava flow in the Fontan conduit

Fontan patients require a balanced hepatic blood flow distribution (HFD) to prevent pulmonary arteriovenous malformations. Currently, HFD is quantified by tracking Fontan conduit flow, assuming hepatic venous (HV) flow to be uniformly distributed within the Fontan conduit. However, this assumption may be unvalid leading to inaccuracies in HFD...

On the dynamics of StemBells: Microbubble-conjugated stem cells for ultrasound-controlled delivery

The use of stem cells for regenerative tissue repair is promising but hampered by the low number of cells delivered to the site of injury. To increase the delivery, we propose a technique in which stem cells are linked to functionalized microbubbles, creating echogenic complex dubbed StemBells. StemBells are highly susceptible to acoustic...

Development of a new therapeutic technique to direct stem cells to the infarcted heart using targeted microbubbles: StemBells

Successful stem cell therapy after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is hindered by lack of engraftment of sufficient stem cells at the site of injury. We designed a novel technique to overcome this problem by assembling stem cell-microbubble complexes, named 'StemBells'. StemBells were assembled through binding of dual-targeted microbubbles (...