Computational method to model flow through the mitral valve and early diastolic filling of the left ventricle

This model uses a finite difference Euler equation to recursively calculate the axial midline mitral outlet flow velocity (mfv) from given atrio-ventricular pressure gradients (avpgs). Published data of canine in-vivo avpgs and their mfvs applied to the computer algorithm enabled successful validation. The model simulated 16 early mfvs generated by avpgs produced by different combinations of atrial and left ventricular (lv) loading. The algorithm generated mvf profiles showed the same changes in configuration as observed in in-vivo load altering mfv studies. Index PolyT, derived from a 5th order polynomial in time representing mfvs, showed a 0.99 correlation with the time contstant of IV active relaxation (talc). For taus of 20 and 55 ms, the mean PolyTs were 19.2(SD=0.78)(Cl=18.7-19.7) ms and 54.5 (SD=3.8/(CI=51.8-57.7) ms respectively.