Heart valve disease has no effective long-term treatment and people who suffer from it have to endure repeated, invasive surgeries throughout their lives to survive. Researchers at Georgia Tech and Emory University are attempting to help with that.
A 3D-printed heart valve, made using a biocompatible material called polyglycerol dodecanedioate, was created at Emory and Georgia Tech labs and presented earlier this month. Its creators believe it will change how heart valve replacements are done.
“This technology is very different from most existing heart valves, and we believe it represents a paradigm shift,” Lakshmi Dasi, a biomedical engineering professor at Georgia Tech, said in a news release.
Credit: Christopher McKenney/Courtesy of Georgia Tech
Credit: Christopher McKenney/Courtesy of Georgia Tech
Heart valve disease is a condition that causes one’s heart valves, which control the flow of blood, to stop working correctly, according to the Cleveland Clinic. When the blood stops flowing correctly, the heart has to work harder, and untreated heart valve disease can soon become life-threatening. Every year, about 27,000 people die of heart valve disease, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
Most artificial heart valves, typically made of animal tissue, last from 10 to 15 years before they must be replaced. The new heart valve created by the researchers is designed to fit a person’s own anatomy. After placement, it can be absorbed by the body and replaced by new tissue that will perform the needed functions.
“We are moving away from using animal tissue devices that don’t last and aren’t sustainable, and into a new era where a heart valve can regenerate inside the patient,” Dasi said.
Credit: Christopher McKenney/Courtesy of Georgia Tech
Credit: Christopher McKenney/Courtesy of Georgia Tech
Dasi, a leading researcher in heart valve functions, teamed up with another Georgia Tech professor, Scott Hollister, who specializes in tissue engineering and 3D printing for pediatric medical devices.
The new heart valve created between the two teams is the first of its kind. 3D-printed heart valves have been created before, but never to create a single device with “resorbable, shape memory material,” according to the news release.
Due to the new valve’s shape memory, it can also be implanted via catheter, instead of the typical open-heart surgery. After it reaches body temperature, the implant will revert into its original state.
The researchers who created this technology are most excited for the implications it could have in pediatric health.
“In pediatrics, one of the biggest challenges is that kids grow, and their heart valves change size over time,” Hollister said. “Because of this, children must undergo multiple surgeries to repair their valves as they grow.”
Credit: Christopher McKenney/Courtesy of Georgia Tech
Credit: Christopher McKenney/Courtesy of Georgia Tech
The journey from the idea’s inception to creating this technology was a long and arduous one, and the journey to bring it to real hospital rooms may be much longer.
“The hope is that we will start with the pediatric patients who can benefit from this technology when there is no other treatment available to them,” Dasi said. “Then we hope to show, over time, that there’s no reason all valves shouldn’t be made this way.”
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