A synthetic fiber reinforced heart valve

摘要

Dis-functioning heart valves can be replaced by heart valve prostheses. Commercially available prostheses are either mechanical or biological. Synthctic valves are used up to now only in ventricular assist devices, because of their short lifetine. We developed a new type of synthetic heart valve made of rubber reinforced with fibers. Computer simulations show that fiber reinforcement reduces the stresses in the leaflets up to 60 percent. We expect that in this way the lifetime of such synthetie valves is inereased.