Developing a New Platform for Testing Artificial Heart Valves

Overview

Artificial heart valves are used to treat a wide variety of heart diseases. Current artificial heart valve technologies are broken into two categories: mechanical valves, and bioprosthetic valves. Mechanical valves last longer but can cause severe damage to the blood, while bioprosthetic valves are more blood-compatible but have poor longevity. Our lab is developing a new polymer heart valve which is long-lasting and highly blood-compatible. Advanced durability testing is an important step in translating new heart valve technologies. The aim of this VRES project will be to design, build, and validate an accelerated durability tester which can cause the valve to beat hundreds of times per second.

Research engagement

The student will design, build, and validate an accelerated durability tester. The student will draw on the designs of commercial valve testers and our lab’s extensive knowledge of cardiovascular device design to build an accelerated durability tester for artificial heart valves.

Research activities

Students will work in a multidisciplinary engineering lab (electrical, mechanical, materials, and medicine) with a range of different engineering skills and experiences. Students will undertake design work using programs like SolidWorks and DesignSpark (modelling and electrical) and perform prototyping using 3D printing and traditional manufacturing methods. The student will create a control system to run the durability tester using simple micro-controllers. The student will build the accelerated durability tester in the laboratory and will design experiments to help validate the test system. Students will work independently, but will be supported by a larger team of more experienced engineers.

Outcomes

This project will result in a new accelerated heart valve durability tester which will be used in a part of our validation of a new polymer-based artificial heart valve.

Skills and experience

The ideal candidate will have a background in Mechatronics, Electrical, Medical, or Mechanical Engineering. Some understanding of microcontrollers and analogue circuit design will be useful. The candidate should be practically competent (hands-on) and comfortable working with their hands. The candidate will benefit from having experience in benchtop testing. The candidate should have a strong work ethic and integrate well into a team environment, but be self-motivated to complete tasks.

Start date

1 November, 2024

End date

28 February, 2025

Location

GPS-O222

Keywords

• biomedical engineering
• cardiovascular
• heart valve
• heart
• experiments
• design
• build

Contact

Andrew Stephens - A8.stephens@qut.edu.au