Diseases of the heart and circulatory system are a leading cause of death in the U.S. and a leading area of research for biomedical engineers. Heart valve diseases, including valve stenosis, valvulitis and valve prolapse, can be fatal if the valve is not replaced. Engineers and physicians work together to design valves made of materials that the human body accepts and function for as long as possible, and that require the least invasive procedures for implantation
Do It
Challenges for you to work on…
- No Valve in Vain – biomedical engineering design process – how a one-way valve works by creating heart valves from tape, plastic tubing and a variety of other materials.
Learn more…
- //TeachEngineering.org//. Contributed by the Techtronics Program, Pratt School of Engineering, Duke University. This activity, part of a teachengineering curricular unit on Engineering and the Human Body that includes a lesson on the heart, could be enhanced with two preliminary heart-valve activities – Engineering the Heart and Saving a Life: Valve replacement
engineering 4 kids 