Annals of biomedical engineering
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Millions of people worldwide are diagnosed each year with valvular heart disease, resulting in hundreds of thousands of valve replacement operations. Prosthetic valve replacements are designed to correct narrowing or backflow through the valvular orifice. Although commonly used, these therapies have serious disadvantages including morbidity associated with long-term anticoagulation and limited durability necessitating repeat operations. ⋯ Tissue engineered heart valves hold promise as a viable substitute to outperform existing valve replacements. An essential component to the development of tissue engineered heart valves is a bioreactor. It is inside the bioreactor that the scaffold and cells are gradually conditioned to the biochemical and mechanical environment of the valve to be replaced.