Cardiac Mechanics

Heart failure is the leading cause of death worldwide and costs more than 16 million lives every year. It does not only affect adults, but also children. Current methods for heart failure detection are suboptimal, especially for an early detection and new methods are required to determine the condition of the heart more accurately. Heart is a complex mechanical pump, where the pressure in the heart generates mechancial stresses and stretch in the heart wall. These mechanical stresses and strains are considered to be good measures to determine the condition of the heart.

This research aims to assess the local mechanical stress and strains in the heart wall to understand the condition of the heart. 

We develop 3D computer models to accurately model the heart mechanically and compute the local mechanical stress and strains in the heart. The models are designed to be applicable to both adults and children. The models are based on the patient-specific heart anatomy obtained from the state-of-the-art MRI and ultrasound imaging.  The local stiffness of the heart wall is measured with a new ultrasound method.

Determining the local stress and strain of the heart wall will a) provide more insight into the underlying mechanism of the heart failure b) help in early detection of heart failure c) determine the optimal timing for a possible surgery

• “Hartekind” Foundation (2019)
• Thorax Foundation (2020)

Collaborations within Erasmus MC

-Cardiology
-Pediatric Cardiology
-Radiology and Nuclear Medicine

Collaborations outside of Erasmus MC

-Department of Biomechanical Engineering, 3ME, TU Delft, the Netherlands
-LABS, Politecnico di Milano, Italy 

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  Dr.ir. A.C. (Ali) Akyildiz, PhD

  Assistant professor

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  Dr. ir. J.J. (Jolanda) Wentzel, PhD

  Associate professor, Head of Biomechanics Laboratory