According
to the study ‘UNITED KINGDOM
PROSTHETIC HEART VALVES MARKET OUTLOOK TO 2025’, such procedures are
gaining popularity and have even evolved the cardiac discipline in order to
better treat people with cardiac valve ailments by the introduction of
prosthetic heart valves. Cardiac valve repair/replacement is among the most
prevalent medical sectors today. It has witnessed a number of innovations
including the introduction of prosthetic heart valves which have been designed
to increase the scope of cardiac valve treatment. Prosthesis in medicine is an
artificial device that replaces a missing body part.
Prosthetic
heart valves in the UK saw a major development in 2007, when cardiologists and
cardiac surgeons at King’s College Hospital started a programme to treat aortic
valve problems. Then, two years later experts from the same institution
performed the first operation to replace one worn out prosthetic heart valve
with a new one via keyhole surgery through the chest. Another more recent major
development is being explored in the UK. A British Heart Foundation funded
chemical engineer is perfecting a material to tackle heart valve disease. The
perfect material for a heart valve is believed to be one which is strong yet
flexible, capable of opening and closing 200 million times or more, compatible
with the human body and able to let blood flow easily through it. Dr. Geoff
Moggridge of the chemical engineering department, Cambridge University is a key
person in this research. He has found a colorless semi-transparent sheet which
is a block copolymer (two kinds of polymer chemically bonded together). The
copolymer appears slightly similar to fiberglass and consists of a glassy
material, which self assembles into fibers, bonded to a rubbery material.
A
key advantage of the copolymer heart valve over mechanical heart valves is that
patients would not require lifelong anticoagulant medication. Anticoagulants
reduce clotting but carry a risk of bleeding, and in the case of Warfarin, regular
monitoring and blood tests are required. Research has shown reasonable
confidence that patients with his heart valve would not need the drugs long
term.
Clotting
is a risk in existing mechanical valves, which are usually made from carbon or
titanium leaflets (flaps) attached to a Teflon or polyester ring. The Cambridge
team has also carried out research on how blood flows through valves and
discovered that the blood swirls around mechanical valves, because of the way
they open and they think it is this rotation in the blood flow that leads to
clotting. The Cambridge team has done experiments to mimic blood flow through
their valve which closely resembles the shape of a natural valve so, blood flow
was found to be natural too thereby reducing clotting risk. A microscopic
coating of the anticoagulant Heparin on the valve reduces this risk even
further.
Prosthetic
heart valves are proving to be the way forward in cardiac surgery and UK’s
contribution cements this fact. The UK has been the origin of many developments
in the medical sector including artificial heart valves. A number of renowned
educational and research oriented institutions such as King’s College and Cambridge
University are augmenting these innovations and conducting their own research
projects to improve general cardiac treatment.
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