The Medical Engineering Team in cooperation with the Medical University of Gdansk has developed a construction of a stent-free aortic valve prosthesis
This solution gives a chance to patients who are currently exposed to reoperations resulting from the unreliability of biological prostheses.
The bioprosthesis is made of bionanocellulose (BNC) produced by bacterial culture in the laboratory of Bowil Biotech. This material is characterized by, among others lack of antigenicity, remarkable chemical purity and smooth surface.
In vitro tests of the valve bioprosthesis were carried out in the laboratory of the Medical Engineering Team on the designed and performed at Maritime Advanced Research Centre a bench for testing heart valves.
In 2018, a research team from the Cardiac Surgery and Vascular Surgery Clinic of the Medical University of Gdańsk headed by dr hab. Piotr Siondalski, MD, performed an experimental bioprosthesis implantation in three sheep. The operations were carried out at the Experimental Medicine Laboratory of the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium. Efforts are currently underway to launch clinical trials.