Accelerated life testing of prosthetic heart valves.

Throughout the years of prosthetic heart valve development, the long-term durability of heart valve development, the long-term durability of heart valves has been studied by accelerated life-cycle testing. Accelerated testing has been used to study materials, design concepts, design modifications, and durability variations caused by changes in manufacturing techniques. As with all in vitro tests, knowledge of the limitations of the test is of paramount importance in analyzing the results. The greatest strength of the accelerated cycle test, however, lies in comparisons of one valve with another. It is in this manner that new prototypes, new materials, or slight modifications in valve design can be gauged with respect to valve life. Valves with long clinical history can be used as standards. Whether a test valve will have a longer or shorter expected life than the standard can be estimated in a relatively short period in side-by-side test runs.