1. Effects of Annular Size, Transmitral Pressure, and Mitral Flow Rate on the Edge-To- Edge Repair: An In Vitro Study 
Jorge H. Jimenez, MS, Joseph Forbess, MD, Laura R. Croft, Lisa Small, Zhaoming He, PhD, Ajit P. Yoganathan, PhD 
The Annals of Thoracic Surgery 
Volume 82, Issue 4, Pages (October 2006)
DOI: /j.athoracsur
Copyright © 2006 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons Terms and Conditions

2. Fig 1
Schematic of a C-ring force transducer mounted onto the mitral valve. The force transducer was sutured centrally, 5 mm from the tips of the leaflets.
The Annals of Thoracic Surgery  , DOI: ( /j.athoracsur )
Copyright © 2006 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons Terms and Conditions

3. Fig 2
Schematic of the normal and symmetrically displaced papillary muscle positions.
The Annals of Thoracic Surgery  , DOI: ( /j.athoracsur )
Copyright © 2006 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons Terms and Conditions

4. Fig 3
Plot of Alfieri stitch force (FA) at different mitral flow rates (MFR) in the normal annulus configuration using the steady flow model. The graph shows a clearly nonlinear relation between MFR and FA.
The Annals of Thoracic Surgery  , DOI: ( /j.athoracsur )
Copyright © 2006 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons Terms and Conditions

5. Fig 4
Plot of Alfieri stitch force (FA) at different mitral flow rates for the different annular configurations under steady flow conditions. Mitral flow rate and FA present a nonlinear relation. The FA decreases with increasing annular area at the different mitral flow rates. (Diamonds = normal annulus; circles = dilated annulus; triangles = contracted annulus.)
The Annals of Thoracic Surgery  , DOI: ( /j.athoracsur )
Copyright © 2006 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons Terms and Conditions

6. Fig 5
Plot of effective orifice area (EOA) for physiologic mitral flow rates using the steady flow model. (A) Effective orifice areas for the different annular configurations before the edge-to-edge repair. (Diamonds = contracted; squares = normal; triangles = dilated.) (B) Effective orifice areas for the different annular configurations after the edge-to-edge repair. (Diamonds = contracted Alfieri; squares = normal Alfieri; triangles = dilated Alfieri.)
The Annals of Thoracic Surgery  , DOI: ( /j.athoracsur )
Copyright © 2006 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons Terms and Conditions

7. Fig 6
Mitral flow rate (dark blue line), transmitral pressure (light pink line), and Alfieri stitch force (FA) during the cardiac cycle for the different annular configurations. The FA follows the mitral flow rate curve during diastole and the transmitral pressure curve during systole. Increased annular area increases FA during systole, but decreases FA during diastole. (Green triangles = force, contracted annulus; red diamonds = force, normal annulus; dark purple squares = force, dilated annulus.)
The Annals of Thoracic Surgery  , DOI: ( /j.athoracsur )
Copyright © 2006 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons Terms and Conditions