Congratulations to Lu Chen on his paper officially published by "Plasma Processes and Polymers" and selected as the cover article of the journal, with the title " Investigation of air plasma generated by surface microdischarge for decellularized porcine aortic valve leaflets modification ".
With the development of regenerative medicine, tissue-engineered heart valves are expected to be a kind of promising valve replacement. Among them, decellularized valves have received extensive attention for their similar structure with the natural valves and low immunogenicity. The strength, durability, and flexibility of the decellularized valve may be reduced by poor mechanical properties of the valve, which contribute to calcification, mechanical fatigue, tissue degradation of the valve, and even clinical failure. On the basis of the application defects of the existing decellularized porcine aortic valve leaflets (DPAVL), CAP generated by surface micro discharge (SMD) device was adopted here to treat the DPAVL. The ultimate tensile strength and the Young's modulus of the DPAVL-PL(NOx) were increased by 19.98% and 52.15%, compared with that of the un-treated DPAVL, respectively. The absorbance band peak at ~1,375 cm-1, measured by Fourier-transform infrared spectrometer, increased with treatment time in the freeze dried DPAVL group under NOx mode treatment. The micro structure was not destroyed and blood compatibility test showed no toxicity. The reaction between plasma activated species and the DPAVL and the pH change, other than temperature/UV irradiation, plays a major role. All of the results indicate that cold atmospheric plasma treatment seems to be a potential alternative for DPAVL modification.
Link: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ppap.202000100
