Computational modeling and validation of intraventricular flow in a simple model of the left ventricle

Simulations of flow inside a laboratory model of the left ventricle are validated against experiments. The simulations employ an immersed boundary-based method for flowmodeling, and the computationalmodel of the expanding–contracting ventricle is constructed via image-segmentation. A quantitative comparison of the phase-averaged velocity and vorticity fields between the simulation and the experiment shows a reasonable agreement, given the inherent uncertainties in the modeling procedure. Simulations also exhibit a good agreement in terms of time-varying net circulation, as well as clinically important metrics such as flow-wave propagation velocity and its ratio with peak early-wave flow velocity. The detailed and critical assessment of this comparison is used to identify and discuss the key challenges that are faced in such a validation study.