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Biomedical subjects

W M Swanson

Publications and source records attributed to W M Swanson.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

In vitro durability of Hancock Model 242 porcine heart valve.

Two Hancock Model 242 prostheses, tissue anulus diameter 21 mm., were tested in a closed, low-volume, accelerated fatigue tester. The fluid media was sterils fresh-frozen plasma. The normal human aortic root was simulated. The cyclic rate was 20 Hz at 37 degrees C. The prostheses developed severe fatigue at 77 million cycles. Fraying of the free edges was found after 2 million cycles. Small tears near the commissures and then holes between collagen bundles at the base of the leaflets appeared at 7 million cycles. At 71 million cycles the leaflets began to tear and complete prolapse, with gross valvular insufficiency occurring at 77 million cycles. The accelerated wear of Hancock procine prosthesis is frequency dependent and independent of media and the flow geometry of the testing device.

Animals

Durability of prosthetic heart valves.

Accelerated fatigue testing of clinical heart valves has been performed at cyclic rates of 33 to 35 cycles per second at 37 degrees C using water for non-biological valves and glutaraldehyde solutions for tissue valves. Flows were in the physiological range, and the pressure difference across each valve during closure was 100 +/- 25 mm Hg. The results showed that major fatigue occurred for the Starr-Edwards 2320 at 150 million cycles, the Hufnagel trileaflet at 124 million cycles, the Björk-Shiley Delrin disc at 140, the Björk-Shiley Pyrolite disc at 973, the Beall 103 at 60, the Hancock porcine at 62, the Carpentier-Edwards porcine at 34, and the Ionescu-Shiley porcine pericardial prosthesis at 65 million cycles. The Lillehei-Kaster was removed after 762 million cycles without discernible wear. Three facts emerged from the testing data: (1) the component worn in vitro wears in vivo; (2) the sites of in vitro fatigue on the component are identical to clinical specimens; and (3) those valves that have high durability in vitro have given similar performance in patients. The in vitro and clinical data for tissue valves do not correlate. The possible reasons for the discrepancy are discussed, and a note of caution is made regarding realistic expectations of clinical durability of tissue valves.

Bioprosthesis

Cardiovascular system simulation requirements.

Circulatory system characteristics are considered with respect to specifying model design parameters for simulators and pulse duplicators. The requirements are investigated to determine what characteristics and parameters are important in design and construction. The specific design depends on the functions of the device to be investigated. The single most important quantity is the modeled proximal capacitance or compliance of the large vessels. More detailed study specifications require more detailed models.

Blood

A simple cardiovascular system simulator: design and performance.

A simple simulator has been constructed, evaluated and used for performance studies of prosthetic aortic valves, balloon assist devices and Koroktof sounds and ausculatory cuff blood pressure measurements. A direct drive piston pump is used. Elastic soft rubber tubes with distributed resistances allow modeling of normal and diseased pressure pulse waves. Pressure pulse amplitude amplification is modeled with tube segments of decreasing diameters. Satisfactory proximal pressure pulse shapes are obtained with a soft rubber tube of uniform diameter.

Aortic Valve

Optical methods for the nondestructive evaluation of collagen morphology in bioprosthetic heart valves.

The aim of the present study was to assess the suitability of nondestructive optical methods as a means of evaluating collagen morphology in bioprosthetic heart valve leaflets. The results of this study demonstrate that transmitted polarized light and incident polarized light optics facilitate the imaging of the inherent birefringence of valvular collagen fibers. Polarized light optics readily document the different patterns of collagen orientation and configuration in porcine aortic valvular (PAV) and bovine pericardial valvular (BPV) bioprostheses. Incident polarized light optics also provide information on leaflet surface morphology. Verification that the birefringence observed by polarized ligh optics represents leaflet collagen was provided by conventional histologic and transmission electron microscopic methods. Quantitative determinations of the spacing of collagen bundle waves gave similar values in intact and in sectioned BPV leaflets. Potential applications of polarized light optics in the assessment of bioprosthetic valve collagen are as follows: the selection of the desired orientation of collagen bundles within pericardium intended to be configured into bioprosthetic leaflets; evaluation of the effects of mechanical stresses and leaflet motion on collagen morphology in bioprosthetic valve leaflets; and initial screening of leaflet specimens and selection of the desired collagen orientation for embedding and sectioning of samples for conventional morphologic studies.

Animals