STRESSES AND STRAINS IN THE LEFT VENTRICULAR WALL APPROXIMATED AS A THICK CONICAL SHELL USING LARGE DEFORMATION THEORY

Abstract

In this paper, stress and strain equations are developed for the left ventricle mainly to find the influence of the ventricle’s shape on wall stresses. Here, the ventricle is assumed to be a thick-walled truncated conical shell and large elastic deformation theory is applied. Our model is compared to corresponding results approximating the left ventricle as a spherical shell. Clinically relevant parameters such as the myocardial stiffness constant, the stretch ratios and the stresses and strains have been computed using available canine data. The conical model leads to more realistic results than the spherical model and enables one to evaluate stresses and strains from base to apex instead of only at the equatorial region as in a cylindrical model.