[Comparison of mechanical properties between human aortic valve and pulmonary arterial valve]

We have investigated the mechanical properties of Chinese aortic and pulmonary valves by means of uniaxial tension. The parameters include the stress-strain curve, the maximum tangent modulus E (the slope of linear segment) in the curve, the tensile strength delta b, and the ultimate strain epsilon b. The results have shown that E, delta b, and epsilon b values between aortic valve and pulmonary valve exist significant differences (significant level = 0.01), but the mechanical property differences between circumferential direction and radial direction in the pulmonary arterial valve are not significant, that means, the valve appears small anisotropic behaviour.