System Fluid Dynamics Approaches for Development of Noninvasive Diagnostics of Acute and Chronic Cardiovascular Diseases.

Abstract: Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) have reached epidemic proportions with serious consequences in terms of human suffering and economic impact. Therefore, there is increasing motivation to develop low-cost and minimally invasive methods to monitor, diagnose, and treat CVD. Traditionally, the aorta has been viewed as a resistive conduit with a Windkessel effect or as a resistive wave conduit connected to an active pump, the left ventricle of the heart. However, these perceptions fail to explain many observed physiological results. We introduced heart+aorta as a system which accounts for a wave-pumping mechanism that exists inside the aorta. Based on this new look, we were able to propose new methods such as Intrinsic Frequency (IF) method and Cardiac Triangle Mapping (CTM) method, for analyzing the dynamics of the cardiovascular system. These systems-based approaches allow deeper understanding of the physiology and can significantly impact the diagnosis of related clinical diseases. These systems approaches have provided us frameworks to noninvasively measure left ventricle ejection fraction (LVEF) using an iPhone app and left ventricle end diastolic pressure (LVEDP) using an inexpensive smartphone-based system. Noninvasive and instantaneous monitoring of LVEF and LVEDP can significantly reduce hospital readmission in heart failure patients, and it can also result in a “stand-alone” method for detection of silent myocardial infarction (heart attack).

Biography: Dr. Pahlevan completed his undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering from University of Tehran, his M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from California State University Northridge, and PhD in Bioengineering from California Institute of Technology (Caltech). He completed his postdoctoral training in hemodynamics and cardiovascular imaging as American Heart Association (AHA) postdoctoral fellow at Caltech and Huntington Medical Research Institutes (HMRI). Dr. Pahlevan joined USC in 2017 as Assistant Professor of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering in Viterbi School of Engineering and Assistant Professor of Medicine in Division of Cardiovascular Medicine. Dr. Pahlevan's projects are interconnected through the underlying physics of fluid/structure interaction and have potential applications in diagnostics and treatment. He is the director of Medical Flow Physics Laboratory (MFPL) at Michelson Center for Convergence Bioscience of USC.