Suck on this Medical Community.

When told in 2000 that he was diagnosed with Marfan syndrome, a condition that affects cardiac connective tissue and can cause the aorta to rupture, British engineer Tal Golesworthy was prepared for a risky surgical installation of a mechanical heart valve and prescription blood thinner regimen. The procedure he would undergo, called the Bentall surgery would require a total heart and lung bypass and would replace the aorta with a composite graft replacement. There is a high risk of blood clots caused by the graft so after being sliced and diced the patient is put on a high-intensity blood thinner. Side effects from these drugs range from stomach aches to nausea to headaches and a host of problems in between, not to mention having a reduced blood clotting rate can be a real pain if you get a nasty cut.

Unfortunately, this has been the commonly used treatment for Marfan since it’s invention in 1968, until now. The risky surgery and host of side effects simply wouldn’t cut it for Golesworthy, so what did he do? He designed a new heart valve that would not require him to be on blood thinners, and saved his own life. Utilising modern imaging techniques such as MRI and a host of modeling techniques, Golesworthy was able to create a new implant constructed of polyethelyne terephthalate, a standard medical plastic that only weighs 5 grams. Constructing the implant is very inexpensive, and it can be stiched directly into place by a surgeon. The hardest part of this two year process? Attaining accurate measurements. The constant movement of the heart and surrounding organs made attaining reliable measurements from multiple perspectives very difficult. Once an appropriate vantage point for imaging was found though, the design and implementation was ironically the easy part of his work.

Golesworthy was the first patient to receive this implant and was soon followed by 23 others, with many more on waiting lists for the new procedure. It’s been reported that all of these patients are doing well and are blood thinner free. Golesworthy says it’s not just a victory for Marfan sufferers, but sends a message to the medical community as well. “They are all medics and biologists, and they need process engineers,” he explains.