Numerical and computational modelling of the Wheatley aortic valve
- 14:00 31st January 2025 ( week 2, Hilary Term 2025 )(this is a virtual seminar)
Recent studies have indicated an increase in cardiovascular diseases in developing countries, particularly valvular disorders caused by rheumatic fever, which are affecting younger populations. In severe cases, when the natural valve cannot be repaired, replacing it with a prosthetic valve may be the most effective way to ensure the patient's survival. Existing artificial valves have limitations, such as early deterioration and the risk of clot formation. To address these issues, the Wheatley Valve introduces an innovative S-shaped leaflet design that enhances the washout effect in the aortic root, thereby reducing the risk of thrombus formation and the need for extensive antiplatelet therapy. In this talk, we will discuss the main elements needed to build a computational model able to represent the real behaviour of the Wheatley valve and which can be readily extended to other valve designs.
Speaker bio
Dr Oliveira has worked as Assistant Professor and Researcher in Computational Continuum Mechanics at University of Campinas (Unicamp), Brazil, since 2023. After his PhD in Structural Engineering from São Carlos School of Engineering, University of São Paulo, in 2017, he joined the prominent Laboratoire de Mécanique et Technologie of the École normale supérieure Paris-Saclay, France, to develop numerical techniques for model identification of sensitive structural systems. Later on, he returned to the University of São Paulo to work as Researcher in the field of structural optimisation (shape, dimensional and topology). In 2021 joined the Laboratoire d'études mécanique sismiques of the Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives, in France, to work on formulation and implementation related to Damage Mechanics and post-critical equilibrium regimes. Dr Oliveira 's scientific career was redirected towards biomechal systems when he joined the Institute of Mathematical and Computer Sciences at the University of São Paulo (2022) to build a fluid-structure model of the Wheatley Aortic Valve, which was awarded the best USP Earth and Exact Sciences in 2024. He was a visiting researcher at Polytech Clermont-Ferrand (2015) and at the National Institute of Science and Technology for Scientific Computer-Assisted Medicine (INCT MACC - HeMoLab/LNCC) in 2022. In 2023, Dr Oliveira was invited by the Brazilian Parliament to present research involving in-silico modelling of the Wheatley valve coming from a fruitful partnership with the University of Strathclyde. Since then, he is a member of the Virtual Physiological Human Institute for Integrative Biomedical Research.In recent years, Dr. Oliveira research has focused on theoretical and computational investigation of single and multi-physics systems for biomedical applications such as heart valves, ventricular assist devices for children, modelling and integration of the full cardiovascular system, crimping and deployment of prosthetic valves and modelling the infusion of haemodialysis catheters. His research has been funded by Fapesp, Funcamp and CAPES.
Dr. Oliveira has authored one book chapter, 21 conference papers and published 21 peer-reviewed journal articles in the field of Computational Mechanics.