Tissue Engineering of Heart Valves

This project will manufacture scaffolds for tissue engineering of heart valves using only materials that exist within the native heart valve. It is part of an ongoing collaboration with Prof C Carr in DPAG. We will make a structure that mimics the tri-layer architecture of native heart valves: that is, a region which is predominantly type I collagen, an intermediate layer that comprises GAGs plus collagen and a final layer that will be rich in elastin. Such a structure should also mimic the natural biological and elastic responses, which will give a more optimal outcome. There are over 250, 000 valve replacements per year with reported lifetimes of up to 15 years. This is clearly a great achievement but longer lifetimes are now needed.

The micro-architecture to be generated is based on very recent work done in my group, and the arrangement is entirely novel. The aims are: (1) to manufacture scaffolds using 'monomeric' atelocollagen (2) to make IPNs from collagen and GAGs, (3) to make a composite collagen- elastin scaffold (4) to produce the trilayer structure.

At each stage the materials will be characterised using both microstructural and spectroscopic techniques to monitor any changes to the starting materials. The pore size, shape and wall integrity will be examined by SEM. Bulk structures will be examined via micro-XRT. The mechanical properties will be investigated with an emphasis on the elastic and viscoelastic responses in flexural mode, plus the fracture response.
This project falls within the remit of the Healthcare Technologies of epsrc.