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| Improving the repair or replacement of heart valves |
Associate Professor Karyn Kunzelman (left) prepares a heart valve for study with assistance from undergraduate student Alexander Bobrov (center) and graduate student Jeff Kasalko. (large image) |
Associate Professor of Surgery and Biomedical Engineering Karyn S. Kunzelman in collaboration with Dr. Pat Cochran, is studying the
material properties of valves in both the healthy and diseased
states in an effort to improve the repair and replacement of
heart valves. Previously, material testing of heart valve tissue
was performed in a single direction (uniaxial testing). This test
involves pulling on the tissue and measuring the forces generated
and the amount of deformation. However, uniaxial testing does not
represent the loading conditions in a physiologic system, where
the loads are applied in many directions. Biaxial tensile testing
more accurately represents the physiologic stresses encountered
in an active heart. An understanding of a tissue's biaxial
behavior will help improve valve repair and tissue valve design.
The focus of the biaxial project shown is to determine the
material properties of healthy and diseased mitral and aortic
valve tissue. The ultimate goal is to track how the properties
change as the heart is exposed to increased stresses (from
various forms of heart disease), and to determine better methods
for repairing or replacing the valves.
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Copyright 1999 The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System
Date last modified: 20-Sep-1999
Date created: 20-Sep-1999
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