Development of an automated CAD model parameterization scheme for Fontan Circulation

Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS) is a congenital heart disease (CHD) that leads to a single ventricle circulation (SV). A multitude of complications can occur with the existing three-stage palliative operation leading to 50% survival rates. The Fontan circulation is a fragile system in which imperfections at any one of multiple levels may compromise quality of life, produce secondary pathophysiology, and shorten life span. Increased inferior vena caval (IVC) pressure itself may play some role in “Fontan failure”. Developing an accurate 3D phantom of Fontan physiology for conducting in-vitro measurement is of paramount importance. In this study, we propose to develop an automated model parameterization technique which will be able to create an optimized synthetic 3D phantom for the in-vitro simulation. To this end, we have coupled various design of experiments methodologies (e.g. response surface design and Fractional factorial designs) with the CAD model of the 3D phantom. These design of experiment techniques generate the key input parameters for the development of the synthetic Fontan geometries. The 3D phantom developed using the automated parameterization scheme matches closely with the dimensions of the 3D phantom used for conducting the in-silico simulations