Fig. 2.

Effect of valves opening and closing on the intra-ventricular flow pattern: Both mitral and aortic valve leaflets are simulated using the rigid leaflets during the entire cardiac cycle. Despite the vortices in LA and AO, the flow field in LV is relatively uniform at the onset of diastole (a). Two vortices are formed in the vicinity of the mitral valve leaflet once diastole starts (b). As mitral valves open more, the boundary layer separation on the tip of both mitral leaflets generates two vortices (c, d). Similarly, two large vortices are formed inside the aorta after boundary separation on the tip of both aortic leaflets (e–g). The vortices are rolled up inside the LV and dissipated at the end of diastole (h–j). During aortic valve openings, a similar boundary separation is formed on the tip of leaflets (k). Finally, the vortices get separated and rolled up to the aorta during the aortic valve closure (l) [23] (Reprinted from [23], with permission from Elsevier)