Advanced modeling strategy for the analysis of heart valve leaflet tissue mechanics using high-order finite element method

Modeling soft tissue using the finite element method is one of the most challenging areas in the field of biomechanical engineering. To date, many models have been developed to describe heart valve leaflet tissue mechanics, which are accurate to some extent. Nevertheless, there is no comprehensive method to modeling soft tissue mechanics, This is because (1) the degree of anisotropy in the heart valve leaflet changes layer by layer due to a variety of collagen fiber densities and orientations that cannot be taken into account in the model and also (2) a constitutive material model fully describing the mechanical properties of the leaflet structure is not available in the literature. In this framework, we develop a new high-order element using p-type finite element formulation to create anisotropic material properties similar to those of the heart valve leaflet tissue in only one single element. This element also takes the nonlinearity of the leaflet tissue into consideration using a bilinear material model. This new element is composed a two-dimensional finite element in the principal directions of leaflet tissue and a p-type finite element in the direction of thickness. The proposed element is easy to implement, much more efficient than standard elements available in commercial finite element packages. This study is one step towards the modeling of soft tissue mechanics using a meshless finite element approach to be applied in real-time haptic feedback of soft-tissue models in virtual reality simulation.