Textile Reinforcement in Fibrin-based Tissue Engineerd Heart Valves.

Tissue-engineered heart valves (TEHV) are a promising approach to solve problems in currently used prostheses. Studies of fibrin based heart valves show promissing results. To overcome last shortcommings concerning the mechanical strength we develope a textile reinforcement.Two approches are tested in this study. One is a composite of manual placed fibres and an electrospun nonwoven layer. The other is a composite of a knitted structure and electrospun fibres. Both approches are tested in test benches concerning the orifice of the valve and the burst stength of the single leaflets. Both approaches improve the mechanical stability of the leflets, but also lead to a decrease of their flexibility.