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Updated: Apr 27, 2026
Combining 3D-Printing and Electrospinning to Manufacture Biomimetic Heart Valve Leaflets
Published on: March 23, 2022
Tri-layered elastomeric scaffolds for engineering heart valve leaflets
Nafiseh Masoumi1, Nasim Annabi2, Alexander Assmann3
1Biomaterials Innovation Research Center, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 65 Landsdowne Street, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; Department of Cardiac Surgery, Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Department of Bioengineering, The Pennsylvania State University, 205 Hallowell Building, State College, PA 16802, USA; Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology and The David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 500 Main Street, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
Abstract:
Tissue engineered heart valves (TEHVs) that can grow and remodel have the potential to serve as permanent replacements of the current non-viable prosthetic valves particularly for pediatric patients. A major challenge in designing functional TEHVs is to mimic both structural and anisotropic mechanical characteristics of the native valve leaflets. To establish a more biomimetic model of TEHV, we fabricated tri-layered scaffolds by combining electrospinning and microfabrication techniques. These constructs were fabricated by assembling microfabricated poly(glycerol sebacate) (PGS) and fibrous PGS/poly(caprolactone) (PCL) electrospun sheets to develop elastic scaffolds with tunable anisotropic mechanical properties similar to the mechanical characteristics of the native heart valves. The engineered scaffolds supported the growth of valvular interstitial cells (VICs) and mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) within the 3D structure and promoted the deposition of heart valve extracellular matrix (ECM). MSCs were also organized and aligned along the anisotropic axes of the engineered tri-layered scaffolds. In addition, the fabricated constructs opened and closed properly in an ex vivo model of porcine heart valve leaflet tissue replacement. The engineered tri-layered scaffolds have the potential for successful translation towards TEHV replacements.
