Reducing the risk of blood clots in artificial heart valves

Hadi Zolfaghari (front) and Dominik Obrist (back) are discussing the turbulent flow in the mechanical heart valve. M. Kugemann for ARTORG Center, University of Bern - People with mechanical heart valves need blood thinners on a daily basis, because they have a higher risk of blood clots and stroke. Researchers at the ARTORG Center of the University of Bern, Switzerland, now identified the root cause of blood turbulence leading to clotting. Design optimization could greatly reduce the risk of clotting and enable these patients to live without life-long medication. Most people are familiar with turbulence in aviation: certain wind conditions cause a bumpy passenger flight. But even within human blood vessels, blood flow can be turbulent. Turbulence can appear when blood flows along vessel bends or edges, causing an abrupt change in flow velocity.