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Heart valve diseases are a common and rising health concern, affecting 1 in 8 people in the UK. Treatment often necessitates prosthetic implants.

Existing prostheses face two key challenges: biological prostheses, made from pig or cow tissue, do not last the patient's lifetime, and mechanical prosthetics, made from carbon or titanium, have biocompatibility issues. Recently, certain polymers have been shown to have both excellent biocompatibility and durability, addressing the limitations of current prosthetic valves.

My current work at CamBris Caridac focuses on developing a novel polymer aortic valve prosthesis to treat aortic valve disease. I use a combination of in-silico modelling and in vitro testing to optimise the design of the valve and ensure it meets ISO 5840 standards for durability and hydrodynamics.

This exciting biomechanical project for my Master Thesis won me the Sir George Nelson Prize in Applied Mechanics (awarded for the highest disctinction in applied mechanics across the cohort). Download my thesis here.

Knee arthritis affects 1 in 5 adults aged over 45 in the UK, and is the primary reason for knee replacement surgeries. Knee stabilisation surgery is a better alternative, but runs the risk of bone fracture.

I investigated how the current surgical procedure could be improved to minimise fracture risk by employing finite element techniques and self-designed bench experiments with a custom rig.

This project involved identifying critical machine requirements from the device requirements specification, defining a Function Analysis System Technique (FAST) diagram, and proposing a concept design for the machine.