A makeover for cardio prosthetics

Thanks to UK research, heart valves damaged by disease or bacterial infection could be replaced with 3D printed prosthetic devices.
Biomedical engineer Professor Neil Bressloff and interventional cardiologist Professor Nick Curzen, have been looking into ways to improve heart valve replacement, (knowns as TAVI- Transcatherter aortic valve implantation) and have successfully carried out a pilot study in manufacturing and printing thin strut valve structures in their latest research.
They are now hoping to optimise the additive manufacturing process in a new funded project and how to assess the effectiveness in producing the replacement heart valve frames.
Neil Bressloff explains: “TAVI was a procedure that was originally trailed o high risk patients who were unable to undergo open heart surgery. Due to its success, the method is being offered to low risk younger patients, which has led to long term durability of replacement valves.”