Predicting Leaky Heart Valves with 3D Printing

More than one in eight people aged 75 and older in the United States develop moderate-to-severe blockage of the aortic valve in their hearts, usually caused by calcified deposits that build up on the valve's leaflets and prevent them from fully opening and closing. Many of these older patients are not healthy enough to undergo open heart surgeries; instead, they have artificial valves implanted into their hearts using a procedure called transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), which deploys the valve via a catheter inserted into the aorta. There are challenges with this procedure, however, including the need to choose the perfect-sized heart valve without ever actually looking at the patient's heart: too small, and the valve can dislodge or leak around the edges; too large, and the valve can rip through the heart, carrying a risk of death. Like Goldilocks, cardiologists are looking for a TAVR valve size that is “just right.”