Co-sponsored by: IEEE QUT Student Branch

Valvular heart disease caused by stenosis, regurgitation or congenital defects are the worldwide third leading contributor to cardiovascular disease resulting in more than 5 million deaths annually. Tissue Engineered Heart Valves (TEHVs) aim to overcome the disadvantages of current heart valve prosthesis by providing an alternative mechanically stable valve that also supports tissue growth and remodelling. Additionally, heart valves are characterized to be highly flexible yet tough, and exhibit complex deformation characteristics such as nonlinearity, anisotropy and viscoelasticity, which are at best only partially recapitulated in scaffolds for heart valve tissue engineering (HVTE). Thus, improved strategies and fabrication technologies have to be established in order to facilitate their translation from bench to bedside.

To address this challenge we have employed a biologically-inspired design and biofabrication strategy aiming to embrace mechanical, structural and geometrical complexities of a native heart valve. We exploited the unique capabilities of melt electrowriting (MEW) to create functional scaffolds with highly controlled fibrous microarchitectures mimicking the wavy nature of the collagen fibers and their load-dependent recruitment. MEW is a novel biofabrication technology which combines principles of both electrospinning and additive biomanufacturing to produce highly organised fibrous constructs with micrometric features. The convergence of MEW and a biomimetic design approach enables a new paradigm for the manufacture of functional scaffolds with highly controlled microarchitectures, biocompatibility, and stringent nonlinear and anisotropic mechanical properties required for HVTE.

Speaker(s): Mr. Navid Toosisaidy,

Agenda:

14:00-14:10  Welcome and introduction

14:10-14:40  Technical presentation 

14:40-14:50  Q&A 

14:50-13:00  Light refreshments

Location:
Room: O-520
Bldg: O Block
Gardens Point Campus
Queensland University of Technology (QUT)
Brisbane, Queensland
4001