Harvard Has Created An Artificial Heart Valve:  It Can Grow With The Child

The Weiss Institute at Harvard University and the John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS) created what they call FibraValve.

The FibraValve implant can eliminate the need for multiple heart valve replacement surgeries in children and can be fabricated in minutes. The unique method allows the formation of delicate valve leaflets at the microscopic level, and they will be ready to be inhabited by living cells by patients, developing with them as they mature.

The technology also uses a new special polymer material called PLCL (combination of polycaprolactone and polylactic acid), which can be stored in the patient’s body for approximately six months.

When the researchers tested it on a live sheep, the FibraValve “started functioning immediately” as its valves opened and closed to let blood flow with every heartbeat, the scientists say.

The research is still preliminary and the team plans to conduct long-term animal testing over the weeks and months for further evaluation.