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Biaxial Mechanical Characterizations of Atrioventricular Heart Valves
Published on: April 9, 2019
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Cell-mediated retraction versus hemodynamic loading - A delicate balance in tissue-engineered heart valves
Inge A E W van Loosdregt1, Giulia Argento1, Anita Driessen-Mol1
1Soft Tissue Biomechanics and Engineering, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Eindhoven University of Technology, P.O. Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
Journal of Biomechanics
|November 26, 2013
Summary
Tissue-engineered heart valve (TEHV) leaflets retract due to cell-generated stress outweighing blood pressure loading. This explains preclinical TEHV functional failure and guides future valve design.
Area of Science:
- Biomaterials Science
- Cardiovascular Engineering
- Regenerative Medicine
Background:
- Tissue-engineered heart valves (TEHVs) show leaflet retraction, a primary cause of functional failure in preclinical studies.
- This retraction results from combined passive and active cellular stresses, alongside passive matrix stresses.
- Cell-mediated leaflet shortening may be mitigated by diastolic hemodynamic loading.
Purpose of the Study:
- To quantify stress generation within engineered heart valve tissue.
- To determine the stress imposed by physiological hemodynamic loading on TEHV leaflets.
- To elucidate the stress balance influencing TEHV leaflet retraction.
Main Methods:
- In vitro model system used to measure stress generation by cells in engineered heart valve tissue.
- Finite element modeling employed to determine diastolic blood pressure-induced stress on valve leaflets.
- Experimental and computational approaches combined to analyze stress dynamics.
Main Results:
- Stresses generated within TEHV leaflets were found to be comparable in magnitude to those imposed by both pulmonary and systemic blood pressures during diastole.
- The study suggests that imposed hemodynamic stress is unlikely to counteract the internally generated cellular stress.
- Hemodynamic loading is transient, occurring only during diastole, further limiting its counteracting effect.
Conclusions:
- The comparable magnitudes of generated and imposed stresses provide a rational explanation for leaflet retraction observed in preclinical TEHV studies.
- This research highlights the critical role of cellular stress in TEHV failure.
- The combined experimental and computational approach offers significant insights into understanding and mitigating TEHV retraction for improved clinical translation.
