3D Printed Modeling of the Mitral Valve for Catheter-Based Structural Interventions

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Cardiovascular Research
• Medical Imaging

Background:

• Catheter-based structural heart interventions are advancing, increasing the need for patient-specific anatomical modeling.
• Accurate modeling of valve geometry and device interaction is crucial for complex procedures like mitral valve repair.

Purpose of the Study:

• To combine cardiac imaging, image processing, and multi-material 3D printing to create patient-specific mitral valve models.
• To evaluate the feasibility of using these models for functional assessment of novel trans-catheter mitral valve repair strategies.

Main Methods:

• Acquired clinical 3D transesophageal echocardiography and computed tomography images from three patients.
• Segmented and reconstructed target anatomies into 3D patient-specific digital models.
• Fabricated patient-specific mitral valve apparatus replicas using fused multi-material 3D printing with TangoPlus elastomers, comparing mechanical properties to porcine tissue.

Main Results:

• Successfully reconstructed patient-specific mitral valve models from multi-modality imaging datasets.
• 3D printed models using TangoPlus materials demonstrated comparable mechanical properties in the stress-strain toe region to native mitral valve tissue.
• Mechanical properties of TangoPlus were significantly different from porcine mitral valve tissue in terms of bending and tensile modulus.

Conclusions:

• Patient-specific mitral valve models can be accurately reconstructed and fabricated using multi-modality imaging and 3D printing.
• These models offer a platform for evaluating catheter-based repair devices within patient-specific valve geometries.
• Further research is needed to define the role of 3D printed models in therapy development and procedural training.