Engineering the Heart: Heart Valves
This Texas woman celebrates her 84th birthday; she received a replacement heart valve that was made with porcine heart tissue. A diagram of the human heart shows its four one-way valves (white flaps).Copyright (left) State of Texas and (right) Wapcaplet, Wikimedia Commons http://www.texasagriculture.gov/culture/medical/ http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Diagram_of_the_human_heart_(cropped).svg
Students learn how healthy human heart valves function and the different diseases that can affect heart valves. They also learn about devices and procedures that biomedical engineers have designed to help people with damaged or diseased heart valves. Students learn about the pros and cons of different materials and how doctors choose which engineered artificial heart valves are appropriate for certain people.
Diseases of the heart and circulatory system are a leading cause of death in the U.S. and a leading area of research for biomedical engineers. Heart valve diseases, including valve stenosis, valvulitis and valve prolapse, can be fatal if the valve is not replaced. Engineers and physicians work together to design valves made of materials that the human body accepts and function for as long as possible, and that require the least invasive procedures for implantation.
After this lesson, students should be able to:
- Identify the four valves in the human heart.
- Describe the function of the heart valves.
- Explain three different diseases that can weaken or damage human heart valves.
- Explain the pros and cons of different materials used to build artificial heart valves.