Chennai, India (CU)_ A cardiac surgeon in Chennai has designed and created the first 3-D printed heart valve in India, providing hope to thousands of heart patients who need heart valve replacement surgery each year. The existing artificial heart valves that are in use now are either mechanical, which is made of metal, or bioprosthetic, which is made of animal tissue, with each having its own set of drawbacks and difficulties, such as the danger of blood clots, valve failure due to degeneration, valve infection, the requirement for long-term blood thinner medicines, and so on.
According to Dr. Sanjay Cherian, Vice President and COO of Frontier Lifeline Hospital, the new heart valves created utilizing 3D printers can…