Cardiovascular Biomechanics Research Lab

Heart disease continues to be the leading cause of death in the world. About 1 in 3 deaths are attributed to cardiovascular disease.1 Every year, thousands of babies are born with a heart defect, and about 1 in 4 such births are critical.2

Our lab is focused on developing computational tools to advance our understanding of cardiovascular disease, assist device design, and surgical planning, ultimately aiming to improve the clinical management of heart disease, in both pediatrics and adults. We collaborate with cardiologists and cardiothoracic surgeons at the medical school (CUMC) to understand their unmet clinical needs and engineer solutions, rooted in the core principles of biomechanics and scientific computing. Click to learn more about our ongoing projects.

  • A beating idealized left ventricle along with its pressure-volume loop. Color indicates magnitude of strain.
  • Action potential propagation in a patient model of the heart tissue. Color represents myocyte transmembrane voltage.
  • Complex blood flow structures in a left ventricle with papillary muscles.
  • Visualization of blood flow and shear forces in a patient model of the aorta
  • Simulating the mechanics of a patient-specific aortic valve
  • Turbulent-like blood flow structures in a patient model of left atrium and ventricle
  • Quantifying shear forces in the left ventricle of a developing zebrafish embryo
  • Fluid-structure interaction simulation of a pediatric valved conduit