Determination of Leaflet Strain Using a Novel Static Pressurization Chamber

The purpose of this study was to design a system capable of quantifying leaflet strain for transcatheter and surgical bioprosthetic aortic heart valves, as well as to present their 3D deformation. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the device, a transcatheter heart valve was mounted into the testing chamber, where it experienced a physiologically appropriate loading force. The three leaflets were marked in order to determine the strain of each leaflet region for precise imaging, executed by two high speed cameras. A custom LabVIEW vi was created to conduct a direct linear transformation of the images into 3D and then to calculate the strain distribution along the leaflets surface.