Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering Commons^™

The Effects Of Coated Gold Nanorods On Porcine Atrioventricular Valve Tissues Using Atomic Force Microscopy, Heather L'Ecuyer

All Theses

In this Master's thesis we examine the effect of surface modified gold nanorods (AuNRs) coated with polyelectrolyte multilayers (PEMs) on the mechanical properties of porcine mitral valve tissue ex vivo. The presence of healthy mitral valve tissue in the body is important to ensuring unidirectional flow of blood through the systemic circuit. Unfortunately, due to its anatomic complexity and unique mechanical behavior, pathological mitral valve tissue remains difficult to treat with conventional methods. We hope that the knowledge gleaned from these studies could be useful for developing new and novel treatments treating pathological mitral valve mechanical properties.
Specifically, we examine …