HEART VALVE DEVELOPMENTS
Decellularised heart valves
This concerns a collaborative project with LUMC on the development of an automated procedure for preparing cell-free heart valve tissue. The ultimate goal of this development is to be able to employ cell-free heart valve tissues in the clinic that are better and can be tolerated for longer, especially by young recipients.
Disinfecting heart valves
In many cases, disinfecting heart valves using antibiotics to remove the initial contamination on the tissue is not thorough enough. Disinfection with iodine (molecular or as a povidone-iodine solution) may offer a potential solution. In collaboration with the NHSBT (the UK’s National Health Service Blood and Transplant authority), the advantages and disadvantages of these solutions are being studied, which will help to inform further decisions on the development of this procedure.
For more information about these projects, please contact infoheartvalve@etb-bislife.org.