3D Printed Heart Valves – can you believe it? Engineers at the heart of cardiac disease solutions.

Join leading biomedical engineer Dr Elena de Juan Pardo, cardiologist researcher Dr Abdul Ihdayhid, and cardiac nurse Jenny Turner, to hear about our latest development, the 3D printed heart valve.

You might be surprised to hear that engineers are leading the charge to tackle a growing heart health issue aortic stenosis, or heart valve disease, a condition that narrows heart valves, and affects millions of people around the world.

Fatal if left untreated, patients with aortic stenosis require open-heart surgery to replace their faulty heart valve with a mechanical valve, or one derived from animals. However, these valve replacement options have been shown to fail in as little as 5 years, requiring repeat open-heart surgery.

At our September Community Q&A, Dr Juan Pardo and Dr Ihdayhid will share how biomedical engineers and cardiovascular specialists at the Perkins are working together to solve this growing issue. Together they are developing a 3D printed biopolymer heart valve that exquisitely and uniquely mimics the mechanical properties of human valves, and that never needs replacing.

A start-up company has been formed to commercialise the 3D printed heart valve in a market where transcatheter aortic valve replacement is estimated to grow from US$4.4 billion in 2021 to around US$13.4 billion by 2030.

The impact of the 3D printed solution, which is cheaper to manufacture and requires less ongoing medical intervention, will be more than just an economic health benefit. Cardiac nurse Jenny Turner will be on hand to share her experiences from the coal face, where she sees the human impact this disease and repeated surgeries have on patients and families.

Join our informative, interactive discussion on this promising innovative solution for patients needing heart valve replacement in the future.

Reserve your space now.

When: Thursday 28 September 2023, 6:00PM – 7:30PM (AWST) 

Where: McCusker Auditorium, Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research, 6 Verdun Street, Nedlands (find parking here).

Cost: Free 

Panellists:  

• Dr Elena de Juan Pardo
  Laboratory Head Tissue Engineering Laboratory T3mPLATE (Translational 3d Printing Laboratory for Advanced Tissue Engineering) 
• Dr Abdul Ihdayhid
  Group Leader Cardiovascular Science & Diabetes Program
  Interventional Cardiologist, CT Specialist
  Clinical Senior Lecturer (The University of Western Australia)
• Ms Jenny Turner
  Cardiac Nurse, South Metropolitan Health Service (Fiona Stanley Hospital)

Hosted by Miriam Borthwick, Perkins Senior Media Advisor and former Senior Reporter for The 7:30 Report.

Audience members will have an opportunity to participate in the conversation and ask questions to all panel members who will be present after the discussion for a Q&A session.