Finite element method in cardiac surgery.

Finite element (FE) method is a form of mathematical modelling used to study the stress, strain and dynamics of a structure. The method has been used to analyse anatomical structures in the human body. In cardiac surgery it allows the quantifying of patient specific geometric features to both assess disease state and potentially aid in planning surgical intervention such as mitral valve repairs, prosthetic valve design or congenital reconstructive cardiac surgery. Important variables for a finite element model are model geometry, the type of mesh elements used, material properties and boundary condition. This review explains these variables, their limitations and describes their application in cardiac surgery.