IKC Annual Review 2016 1 | Page 15

ANNUAL REVIEW | 2016 | 15 ENABLING TECHNOLOGIES Putting replacement heart valves through their paces Replacement heart valves that can be implanted with minimal risk of rejection or failure could benefit thousands of patients undergoing surgery in the UK each year. programme funded by a Medical Technologies IKC proof of concept grant. Leeds researchers have devised a rigorous portfolio of tests to ensure the biomechanical performance of new types of valve is sufficient to offer patients the improved quality of life that they expect. “These types of decellularised valves could potentially overcome the limitations of current homograft valves, which degenerate over time, and produce valves with potential for growth, which would make a huge difference to younger patients,” says Louise Jennings, Associate Professor of Medical Engineering at the University of Leeds. The new valves are taken from human donor tissue which has had all the cellular material removed – using decellularisation techniques developed at the University of Leeds. Tests to assess both the biomechanical properties and the hydrodynamic performance of the valves were formulated by researchers in the University’s Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering, in a Working in partnership with NHS Blood and Transplant Tissue and Eye Services, the portfolio of tests has now been applied to human decellularised pulmonary and aortic valve conduits, allowing them to be fully biomechanically characterised before NHSBT TES take the valves into clinical trials. “Producing standardised methods for testing them in vitro ultimately reduces risk of failure for patients. It also reduces risk for the health service and for investors – and reduces the number of animals needed in pre-clinical trials.”