New Valve Material

[Gerry]

Research by a scientist at the CSIRO in Asutralia has lead to an award after the development of a new material called Elast-Eon which holds the promise of a new family of artificial heart valves without the need to take anti-coagulants.

The article is at the web address below, or else just go to the home page of CSIRO and follow the links

Copy this link :-

http://www.csiro.au/index.asp?type=mediaRelease&id=McLennanAward2002

Gerry
Perth, Australia

[lancashirelad]

Dear Gerry

Many thanks for posting this address. The site was very imformative & this valve looks to have a lot of potential. I have had a ross recently but already i am told that i will require further surgery in future due to expanding aortic root which will damage my new valve eventually. However with valves like this in the pipeline i have great hope that soon anti coag therapy will no longer be required for people with prosthetic valves.

Kindest Regards

Simon

[McCln]

Thanks for sharing this latest bit of news. It can help a lot of people in the future. Thanks again for sharing this with us. You are a good person.


Caroline
09-13-01
Aortic valve replacement
St. Jude's valve

[Ross]

Wish my surgery could wait until this material is in use.

Don't think that'll happen though.

Thanks for sharing the link. I'm going to keep an eye on that stuff.

[chilihead]

Has anyone heard if the testing has started on this new valve?

[Ross]

It's been a year and I've heard nothing more. Guess we'll have to research it some more.

[ddarsch]

Gerry:

I will need to have my porcine mitral valve replaced within 6 months or so - I am going to ask my surgeon about this option.

Thanks so much for sharing

[baw]

After learning of the new material on this forum, I contacted the developers in late 2002. The following are the emails I recieved:

Date: 10/22/2002

The valve is not yet available commercially. The clinical trials are planned for next year.

I have forwarded your message to Dr Ian Griffiths of AorTech Biomaterials, the company doing the development work to commercialise this valve. You can follow the progress from their web site : www.aortechbio.com

Thank you for your interest in our work.

Regards
Thilak Gunatillake


Date: 10/25/2002

Hello

My name is Ian Griffiths and I am the business unit manager for AorTech Biomaterials. I was passed your e-mail by Thilak and as such I thought I would give you a quick update on the valve situation.

The new tri-leaflet heart valve program is ongoing and in the end stages of the pre-clinical work. The last round of testing revealed a minor issue that needs to be addressed prior to the final stage of pre-clinical work. At this stage I envisage a small delay to the timelines for clinical studies. Due to the differences in the device registration process in different parts of the world the full commercial launch will be staged between 2005 and 2007.

All relevant data at this time indicates that no anticoagulation regime will be required for this valve. However we will not be absolutely certain of this until we have sufficient human data. The current design will address replacement in the aortic position, but may be broadened for other valve replacement in the future.

I hope that this answers your points and thank you for the interest.

Best Regards

Ian

Dr Ian Griffiths
Business Unit Manager
AorTech Biomaterials



Dr. Griffiths also indicated the valve is effectively silent in operation.

[Ross]

Thanks for the update! I so hope I never have to go through it again but if I do, I hope this valve is an option by then. :)

[McCln]

Thanks for the info. Never know when it could come in handy. Take care and be good.

Caroline
09-13-01
Aortic valve replacement

[McCln]

Thanks for the info, it will indeed come in handy in the future. Take care and be good.

Caroline
09-13-01
Aortic valve replcement
St. Jude's valve