Analysis of Mitral Valve Vibration Range

Various theories have been proposed on the mechanisms of the first heart sound. It has been proposed by Rushmer that the vibrations of the mitral valve leaflets and the left ventricular chamber, respectively, contribute to the first and second components of the first heart sound. The ranges of the predominant frequencies of these two structures would also be expected to be different. Thus, if these ranges were established by vibration analyses of the left ventricular chamber and the mitral valve for anatomical ranges of the dimensions and physiological ranges, it would help separate the relative contributions, of these two cardiac structures, to the monitored first heart sound spectrum. This paper presents a geometrically representative vibrational model of the mitral valve. The application of the model is demonstrated in calculating the primary vibration frequency for a set of values of dimensions and leaflet modulus. The model can be employed to establish the physiological range of values of the primary frequency of the mitral valve.