A mechanical valve can be considered as a ring through which blood flows in the heart during desired periods and then closes at appropriate times. Shown here is a bileaflet mechanical valve that was previously surgically implanted in a patient, prior to our laboratory reanimating this heart in vitro. The videoscope is placed within the ascending aorta and directed back towards the heart and the aortic valve. When the mechanical leaflets are open (systole), there is flow through the valve; when they are closed, the ventricle is filling (diastole).
Today, mechanical valves are the most common type of valve used to replace the heart's natural valves when they have been damaged, diseased, or weakened by age and no longer adequately control the flow of blood within the heart. A mechanical valve can be considered as a ring through which blood flows in the heart during desired periods and then closes at appropriate times.
Shown here is a bileaflet mechanical valve that was previously surgically implanted in a patient, prior to our laboratory reanimating this heart in vitro. The videoscope is placed through the apex of the left ventricle. The mitral valve is on the right with a Millar pressure catheter (yellow catheter) positioned through it. One can see the aortic valves working, where the mitral is not moving to a great degree; this heart had poor function and was deemed non-viable for transplant.
