Advanced 3-D printed heart valves could soon assist cardiologists in performing transcatheter aortic valve replacements (TAVR) and other life-saving surgeries.
Researchers at Georgia Institute of Technology and the Piedmont Heart Institute are using new 3-D printing technologies to help cardiologists predict whether paravalvular leakages could occur after valve replacement surgery. Such leakages are a common complication when the valve doesn’t precisely fit, and researchers hope to avoid it with this new medical innovation.
The team creates 3D-printed models from CT scans of patients’ hearts, which yields patient-specific heart valve models that mimic the physiological qualities of the real valves. Cardiologists can then evaluate how well a prosthetic valve fits a patient before surgery even begins.
The team is hoping to refine the prototype and test even more patient-specific models to ensure better outcomes from heart valve replacement surgery.
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