valvular heart disease

Engineering

Fabrication

Biomedical engineering

Metallurgy

Materials science

Mechanical heart

Surgery

Computer science

Chemical engineering

Construction engineering

Risk analysis (engineering)

Manufacturing engineering

Mechanical engineering

Alternative medicine

Nanotechnology

Artificial heart

Biocompatibility

Heart valve

Medicine

Pathology

Materials Today Bio

Valvular heart diseases (VHD) are a major health burden, affecting millions of people worldwide. The treatments for such diseases rely on medicine, valve repair, and artificial heart valves including mechanical and bioprosthetic valves. Yet, there are countless reports on possible alternatives noting long-term stability and biocompatibility issues and highlighting the need for fabrication of more durable and effective replacements. This review discusses the current and potential materials that can be used for developing such valves along with existing and developing fabrication methods. With this perspective, we quantitatively compare mechanical properties of various materials that are currently used or proposed for heart valves along with their fabrication processes to identify challenges we face in creating new materials and manufacturing techniques to better mimick ​the performance of native heart valves.

Materials and manufacturing perspectives in engineering heart valves: a review