Congratulations to Prof. Sung Hoon Kang who, as part of an interdisciplinary team, has received NIH funding to explore the utilization of 3D printing to design and develop a novel right ventricle-to-pulmonary artery conduit that increases its size via tailored self-unfolding.
Right ventricle–to–pulmonary artery (RV-PA) conduits are frequently used as a surgical palliative treatment for a variety of congenital heart diseases in infants and children. Due to the growth of the infant or child, or complications like kinking or thrombosis of the device, these conduits require replacement which may involve several major open heart surgery before adulthood.
This grant will help utilize 3D printing to design and develop a novel RV-PA conduit that increases its size via tailored self-unfolding triggered by flow and time so that fewer complications as well as surgeries are required to maintain and develop normal pulmonary blood flow from infancy to adulthood. It is envisioned that 3D printing will also allow for improved precision in patient customization and on-demand design changes to enable better functionality. It is anticipated that self-unfolding mechanisms and associated shape changes will result in operation of the conduits over longer periods of infant and child growth into adulthood. The studies will enable a new class of RV-PA conduits as well as serve as a model for designing patient-specific shape changing biomedical implants for infants that are capable of growing at the same rate to reduce the number of follow up operations.
Other members of the team are: David Gracias (PI, ChemBE), Lewis Romer (co-PI, JHMI), and Narutoshi Hibino (co-PI, JHMI).
