Researchers at the RCSI School of Medicine and Health Sciences have developed an artificial model of the mitral valve that closely mimics the complex mechanical behavior of the mitral valve in the human heart. This study could help researchers better understand valve disease and develop new treatment approaches.
The mitral valve opens and closes approximately 100,000 times each day, so its mechanical properties are important for healthy heart function. When the valves don’t work properly, blood can flow backwards from the heart in a condition called mitral regurgitation, which affects tens of millions of people around the world. As life expectancy increases worldwide, the number of people experiencing mitral valve disease is expected to increase.
A new low-cost mitral valve model developed by RCSI can reproduce the behavior of the human heart’s ‘natural’ mitral valve, allowing researchers around the world to better understand how the mitral valve works and develop new approaches to restore its function.
“Advancing our understanding of mitral valve function requires the development of synthetic alternative methods that capture the complex mechanical behavior of the valve, which is what we achieved in this study,” explained Dr Clare Conway, a lecturer in the RCSI Department of Anatomy and Regenerative Medicine and author of the new study published in 2006. Acta Biomateria.
Until now, prosthetic mitral valves have lacked anisotropy, the property of having mechanical properties in different directions, and such models have been unable to withstand the levels of pressure and flow that are naturally found in the human heart.
This new model is the first of its kind to incorporate the mechanical properties of real heart valve tissue while also operating under realistic cardiac pressure and flow conditions. Additionally, many mitral valve problems are underpinned by changes in mechanics, so having a model that behaves like human tissue provides a new window into how mitral valve dysfunction begins and progresses.
This model captures your natural anatomy and manufacturing is accurate and reproducible. Physical and digital testing of the valve revealed that it functions normally at physiological flow rates and pressures, representing a major advance in this field. ”
Dr Claire Conway, Lecturer in Anatomy and Regenerative Medicine, RCSI
Importantly, the new model also allows precise control of leaflet tension and thickness, which allows for effective opening and closing of the mitral valve.
“This model allows us to precisely control key features of the mitral valve while replicating its function within the heart,” said Dr. Sheena Javadpour, lead author of the study and postdoctoral fellow at Trinity College Dublin. “This makes it a powerful tool to study valve disease and test new repair strategies in a controlled laboratory environment.”
This research was funded through the RCSI StAR Lectureship and Research Ireland Frontiers for the Future program and carried out by the RCSI Tissue Engineering Research Group.
sauce:
RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences
