Mechanical and Structural Properties of a Novel Hybrid Heart Valve Scaffold for Tissue Engineering

Mechanical and Structural Properties of a Novel Hybrid Heart Valve Scaffold for Tissue Engineering
November 2004
Niels Grabow*, Kathleen Schmohl*, Amir Khosravi, Mark Philipp, Michael Scharfschwerdt, Bernhard Graf?, Christof Stamm, Axel Haubold*, Klaus-Peter Schmitz*, and Gustav Steinhoff
Artificial Organs
Volume 28 Issue 11 Page 971
Blackwell Synergy
Institute for Biomedical Engineering; Department of Cardiac Surgery, University of Rostock, Rostock; Department of Cardiac Surgery, University Hospital of Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Luebeck, Luebeck; ?HELIOS Clinics Schwerin, Clinic for Cardiology, Schwerin, Germany
Abstract: Hybrid heart valve scaffolds were fabricated from decellularized porcine aortic heart valve matrices and enhanced with bioresorbable polymers using different protocols: (i) dip coating of lyophilized decellularized matrices, and (ii) impregnation of wet decellularized matrices. The following polymers were evaluated: poly(4-hydroxybutyrate) and poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co4-hydroxybutyrate). Tensile tests were conducted to assess the biomechanical behavior of valve leaflet strips. Suture retention strength was evaluated for the adjacent conduit. A pulse duplicator system was used for functional testing of the valves under physiological systemic load conditions. The properties of the hybrid structures were compared with native, decellularized, and glutaraldehyde-fixed specimens. Mechanisms of the polymer impregnation process were studied with IR spectroscopy, fluorescent microscopic imaging, and SEM. Altogether this study demonstrates the feasibility and improved biomechanical function of a novel hybrid heart valve scaffold for an application in tissue engineering.

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