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A model of the mechanics of the left ventricle

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Abstract

The relation between cardiac muscle mechanics and left ventricular (LV) pump function is simulated by a mathematical model. In the following article special attention is paid to the relation between LV pressure and LV volume on the one hand and the transmural distribution of sarcomere length and fiber stress on the other. The LV is simulated by a thick-walled cylinder composed of 8 concentric shells. The myocardial material is assumed to be anisotropic. The orientation and sequential activation of the muscle fibers across the LV wall are considered per shell. Twisting of the base with respect to the apex around the axis of the LV is simulated by rotation of the upper cross-sectional surface of the cylinder with respect to the lower one aroud the axis of the cylinder.

The model reveals that twisting of the LV is an important means to equalize transmural differences in sarcomere shortening and end-systolic fiber stress. When torsion is allowed, transmural differences in sarcomere shortening and end-systolic fiber stress are less than 18% and 16%, respectively. When torsion is prevented as in most of the models of LV-mechanics described in literature, these transmural differences increase up to 32% and 42%, respectively.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physiology, University of Limburg, Maastricht, The Netherlands

    Robert S. Reneman

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands

    Peter C. Veenstra

  3. Department of Biophysics, Biomedical Centre, University of Limburg, P.O. Box 616, 6216 EA, Maastricht, The Netherlands

    Theo Arts

Authors
  1. Theo Arts
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  2. Robert S. Reneman
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  3. Peter C. Veenstra
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Additional information

Supported by the Foundation for Medical Research FUNGO, which is subsidized by the Netherlands organization for the Advancement of Pure Research.

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Arts, T., Reneman, R.S. & Veenstra, P.C. A model of the mechanics of the left ventricle. Ann Biomed Eng 7, 299–318 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02364118

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