Every year, more than 5 million people in the USA are diagnosed with heart valve disease, but this condition has no effective long-term treatment. When a person’s heart valve is severely damaged by a birth defect, lifestyle, or aging, blood flow is disrupted. If left untreated, there can be fatal complications.

Valve replacement and repair are the only methods of managing severe valvular heart disease, but both often require repeated surgeries that are expensive, disruptive, and life-threatening. Most replacement valves are made of animal tissue and last up to 10 or 15 years before they must be replaced. For pediatric patients, solutions are extremely limited and can require multiple reinterventions.

Now, Georgia Tech researchers have created a 3D-printed heart valve made of bioresorbable materials and designed to fit an individual patient’s unique anatomy. Once implanted, the valves will be absorbed by the body and replaced by new tissue that will perform the function that the device once served.

---

Georgia Tech researchers have developed a groundbreaking 3D-printed, bioresorbable heart valve that promotes tissue regeneration, potentially eliminating the need for repeated surgeries and offering a transformative solution for both adult and pediatric heart patients.