There has been a major breakthrough that could see a new human heart valve being introduced that would put an end to children undergoing repeat surgeries to replace faulty valves.
According to Scientists at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland the new revolutionary valve which was created in a laboratory using materials found in the body, could be introduced within the next 5 years. The new development has already been deemed a success because it is the first time scientists have been able to make a valve capable of functioning for prolonged periods of time whilst adapting to a child’s growing body.
The groundbreaking discovery has been welcomed by the Head of the Tissue Engineering Research Group at RCSI, Fergal O’Brien who said coming up with the life saving valve was a extremely difficult challenge. Prof O’Brien said: “We have been working on the project for five years. We are now at a stage where we have a functioning valve.” “Up to now, the problem with tissue engineered heart valves developed in the lab is that they did not shut properly.”
Prof O’Brien further explained that he and his team developed a biomaterial in the lab from collagen and fibrin materials and used it to construct an anatomically correct heart valve shape. It is believed the materials used in the revolutionary new valve are both proteins, they break down over time and are replaced by the body’s own tissue. Prof O’Brien said: “What we have done is worked really, really hard to find a way to control the rate at which the implant degrades.” “We have been able to put the valve into a bio-reactor — a device that replicates the condition of the heart and will now test it on animals.”
It is understood that Prof O’Brien and his team hope to begin testing the valve in humans within two to three years at the earliest, with a long term target of introducing the valve to every child worldwide within 5 years. “As a research group we are very active in the biomedical area we have two bone and cartilage repair technologies going into patients this year,” added Prof O’Brien.