title: Hemodynamic coupling of a pair of venous valves.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In vivo studies have shown that valves in veins are paired in an orthogonal configuration. The aim of this study is to characterize the flow interaction of paired valves under controlled in vitro bench conditions.
  
  
  METHODS
  A bench top in vitro experiment was set up at physiological flow conditions to simulate the flow inside a venous valve. Two bicuspid bioprosthetic valves paired in 0° and 90° orientations were tested in a 12-mm-diameter tube, and the two-dimensional velocity fields around the valve were measured by particle image velocimetry. The distance between the two valves was varied from 3 to 5 cm, and the corresponding velocities and vorticities were determined.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Velocity field shows the flow exit from the orthogonal valve-pairing configurations forced the main jet stream to turn to the outer region of the tube. Flow patterns between the valves show significantly less stagnation region from the 90° valve pairing over a 0° valve pairing case. The variation in valves distance shows that the coupling effect of the two valves extends to a range beyond four times of the tube diameter, albeit the ability to alter the flow decreases at larger distances.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings suggest that the 90° valve pairing configuration regulates the flow between the valves, and the separation distance affects the hemodynamic efficiency of the two valves by reducing the total reverse flow volume.
authors.affiliation: Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, University of Washington, Seattle, Wash.
authors.forename: Wei-Hsin
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Tien
authors.affiliation: Research and Development, 3DT Holdings, LLC, Indianapolis, Ind; Department of Cellular and Integrative Physiology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Ind; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis, Indianapolis, Ind.
authors.forename: Henry Y
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Research and Development, 3DT Holdings, LLC, Indianapolis, Ind; Department of Cellular and Integrative Physiology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Ind.
authors.forename: Zachary C
authors.initials: ZC
authors.lastname: Berwick
authors.affiliation: Research Engineering, Cook Medical, Bloomington, Ind.
authors.forename: Joshua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Krieger
authors.affiliation: Research Engineering, Cook Medical, Bloomington, Ind.
authors.forename: Sean
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chambers
authors.affiliation: Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, University of Washington, Seattle, Wash.
authors.forename: Dana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Dabiri
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Ind; Department of Cellular and Integrative Physiology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Ind; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis, Indianapolis, Ind. Electronic address: gkassab@iupui.edu.
authors.forename: Ghassan S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Kassab