• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.61-66
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• 1995

We have developed a monoleaflet polymer valve as an inexpensive and viable alternative, especially for short-term use in the ventricular assist device or total artificial heart. The frame and leaflet of the polymer valve were made from polyurethane. To evaluate the hemodynamic performance of the polymer valve a comparative study of flow dynamics past a polymer valve and a St. Jude Medicals prosthetic valve under physiological pulsatile flow conditions in vitro was made. Comparisons between the valves were made on the transvalvular pressure drop, regurgitation volume and maximum valve opening area. The polymer valve showed smaller regurgitation volllme and transvalvular pressure drop compared to the mechanical valve at higher heart rate. The results showed that the functional characteristics of the polymer valve compared favorably with those of the mechanical valve at higher heart rate.

• Proceedings of the KOSOMBE Conference
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• v.1996 no.05
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• pp.167-171
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• 1996

Impact force and strains induced by impact between the occluder and the struts have been measured with force senfor and strain gages. The maximum reaction force was about 25N, and the calculated impact force on the root of the struts amount about $9{\sim}17N$. Impact force on the inlet strut is greater than that of the outlet strut, but the strain on the outlet strut is much higher than that of the inlet strut. These values might cause severe damage on the valve in the critical cases. The results of this study may be extended for the analysis of the endurance limit and optimal design of the struts and occluder.

• Proceedings of the KOSOMBE Conference
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• v.1993 no.11
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• pp.99-103
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• 1993

A monoleaflet polymer artificial heart valve which showed the remarkable improvement in pressure drop compared with other types of artificial valve was designed to decrease the deflection in vertical direction and the displacement or the valve tip in horizontal direction. Stress distribution change was studied as the location of the supporting members or the valve frame changed. And it was found that using the valve tip horizontal displacement the minimum valve thickness could be obtained in order to prevent the gap between the valve tip and the frame wall.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Visualization
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.12-17
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• 2023

Aortic valve stenosis is a heart valve disease caused by the accumulation of calcium in the valve, which can divide into tricuspid aortic valve (TAV) stenosis and bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) stenosis depending on the shape of natural valve. In this study, pig heart-based TAV and BAV ex vivo models were fabricated, and the flow characteristics behind a valve were analyzed using 4D flow MRI. Flow behind normal TAV was uniformly distributed, while BAV asymmetrically opened with an eccentric strong jet. Especially, BAV ex vivo model exhibited a secondary flow in the region where the valve closed. In addition, BAV had a 26% higher peak velocity while maintaining similar stroke volume compared with normal TAV. This study would be helpful for understanding the flow characteristics for BAV AS patients.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.223-228
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• 2008

Background: The aim of this study is to confirm that peripheral blood sampling for measuring of serum immunoglobulin can predict immunological changes after xenograft implantation. Material and Method: Between March 2006 and January 2007, 19 patients were enrolled (10 xenograft implantation group, 9 control group). Through 3 peripheral blood samples, we measured changes in serum immunoglobulin G and M levels preoperatively, and 2 and 10 days postoperatively. Result: In both groups, serum immunoglobulin levels showed similar changes-they decreased 2 days postoperatively, then increased up to the baseline levels 10 days postoperatively. However, this postoperative change of immunoglobulin G and M was not significantly different in absolute value or pattern between the 2 groups (Ig G; p-value=0.393, Ig M; p-value=0.193). Conclusion: We could not predict immunological changes after xenograft implantation by measuring serum immunoglobulin levels by simple blood sampling. Direct checking of ${\alpha}$-Galactose antibody may confirm an immunological reaction after xenograft implantation.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.41 no.6
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• pp.679-686
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• 2008

Background: Cellular remnants in the bioprosthetic heart valve are known to be related to a host's immunologic response and they can form the nidus for calcification. The extracellular matrix of the decellularized valve tissue can also be used as a biological scaffold for cell attachment, endothelialization and tissue reconstitution. Thus, decellularization is the most important part in making a bioprosthetic valve and biological caffold. Many protocols and agents have been suggested for decellularization, yet there ave been few reports about the effect of a treatment with hypotonic solution prior to chemical or enzymatic treatment. This study investigated the effect of a treatment with hypotonic solution and the appropriate environments such as temperature, the treatment duration and the concentration of sodium dodecylsulfate (SDS) for achieving proper decellularization. Material and Method: Porcine aortic valves were decellularized with odium dodecylsulfate at various concentrations (0.25%, 0.5%), time durations (6, 12, 24 hours) and temperatures ($4^{\circ}C$, $20^{\circ}C$)(Group B). Same the number of porcine aortic valves (group A) was treated with hypotonic solution prior to SDS treatment at the same conditions. The duration of exposure to the hypotonic solution was 4, 7 and 14 hours and he temperature was $4^{\circ}C$ and $20^{\circ}C$, respectively. The degree of decellularization was analyzed by performing hematoxylin and eosin staining. Result: There were no differences in the degree of decellularization between the two concentrations (0.25% 0.5%) of SDS. Twenty four hours treatment with SDS revealed the best decellularization effect for both roups A and B at the temperature of $4^{\circ}C$, but there was no differences between the roups at $20^{\circ}C$. Treatment with hypotonic solution (group A) showed a better ecellularization effect at all the matched conditions. Fourteen hours treatment at $4^{\circ}C$ ith ypotonic solution prior to 80S treatment revealed the best decellularization effect. The treatment with hypotonic solution at $20^{\circ}C$ revealed a good decellularization effect, but his showed significant extracellular matrix destruction. Conclusion: The exposure of porcine heart valves to hypotonic solution prior to SDS treatment is highly effective for achieving decellularization. Osmotic treatment with hypotonic solution should be considered or achieving decellularization of porcine aortic valves. Further study should be carried out to see whether the treatment with hypotonic solution could reduce the exposure duration and concentration of chemical detergents, and also to evaluate how the structure of the extracellular matrix of the porcine valve is affected by the exposure to hypotonic solution.

• Proceedings of the KOSOMBE Conference
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• v.1994 no.05
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• pp.105-108
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• 1994

A comparative study was made of the valvular sounds produced by normal prosthetic valves with thrombosed prosthetic valves. Comparisons of the closing sound were made for the power frequency spectra associated with individual valves. We used periodogram approach to obtain the spectral characteristics of the valve. Spectral analysis system was tested in mock circulatory system by comparing normal valves with those produced by the same valves but having simulated thrombosis at the hinge of the valve. The heart sounds was recorded from two patients having normal mechanical valve and thrombosed mechanical valve. The estimated spectrum of the thrombosed mechanical valve displayed lower apparent peak frequency than that of the normal valve. The results showed that frequency spectra gave information pertinent to the valve malfunction. Sound spectral analysis is simple and alternative diagnostic tool for early detection of prosthetic valve mal function.

• Proceedings of the KOSOMBE Conference
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• v.1997 no.05
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• pp.88-91
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• 1997

One of the most significant feature of diagnostic ultrasonic instrument is to display information on the soft tissues in the body in real time. In this paper we carried out basic study on the digital moving image processing for tracing the movement of heart valves in echocardiograms. Digital moving image file was made from analog echocardiograms and it was remade as 256 gray-level images on each frame. The ROI(Region of interest) was placed on a heart valve region to process images efficiently. Images were processed by the use of image enhancement filters and morphology filters. The result shows that the processed images were more enhanced than original images. When a moving image is reconstructed by using these enhanced images, we can trace the movement of heart valves more easily. In this study we proposed the availability of the moving image reconstruction using enhancement images.

• Proceedings of the KOSOMBE Conference
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• v.1997 no.11
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• pp.109-112
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• 1997

The Hydrodynamic performance of the trileaflet polymer prosthetic valves depends on the design of the leaflet and the physical properties of the leaflet membrane. In order to study the effect of leaflet membrane elasticity on the hemodynamic performance of trileaflet prosthetic valve, leaflet membranes are manufactured using two different polymers - Biospan and Tecoflex SG-93A. The hemodynamic performance parameters are measured under steady and physiological pulsatile flow, and compared with monoleaflet polymer valve(floating valve) and bileaflet mechanical valve(St. Jude Medical valve). Well designed trileaflet valve shows the lowest mean pressure drop among the tested valves. The trileaflet valves with Biospan membrane show lower pressure drop and back low comparing to those with Tecoflex membrane. More elastic membrane may provide wide opening area during systole and close membrane ree edge contact during diastole. Durability of trileaflet valves are also tested in vitro. Trileaflet valves with non-uniform membrane thickness ail within 17 days because of stress concentration. Trileaflet polymer valves with uniform membrane thickness perform well over 55 days without failure.

• Proceedings of the KOSOMBE Conference
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• v.1998 no.11
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• pp.247-248
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• 1998

The effect of unattached valve leaflet on flow field downstream of a floating and flapping polyurethane heart valve prosthesis was investigated. With a triggering system and a time-delay circuit the instantaneous velocity field downstream of the valve was measured by particle image velocimetry (PIV) in conjunction with the opening posture of a flexible valve leaflet during a cardiac cycle. Reynolds shear stress distribution was calculated from the velocity fields and wall shear stress was directly measured by hot-film anemometry (HFA). The floating motion of the valve leaflet resulted in the reduction of pressure drop and recirculating flow region downstream of the valve.