A new electron microscope is officially inaugurated today, 14 June, in the University's Department of Cardiac Surgery. It will enable scientists to identify the most suitable materials for use in the next generation of artificial heart valves. The equipment has been purchased by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) with the aid of a generous donation of £100K from the Barbara McLellan Will Trust.

Professor David Wheatley, the BHF Professor of Cardiac Surgery at the Royal Infirmary, says the machine will play a vital part in furthering the research his department has undertaken into the successful design and manufacture of artificial heart valves.

"Over the past three to four years a new range of polyurethanes have been available to us which have proved to be very stable when exposed to the enzymes and cells which will be encountered within the body. This has enabled us to design new heart valves which promise considerable clinical benefit to patients.

"One of the important requirements for this research is the ability to see exactly how these new materials withstand repeated flexion in the laboratory and also how they respond to exposure to human blood. The scanning electron microscope which has been donated to the department will enable us to look at the fine infrastructure of the materials in considerable detail, detecting changes following durability testing and exposure to human blood in a way that will enable us to make confident predictions about the subsequent clinical behaviour of these new heart valves.

"In addition to our heart valve research, the equipment will aid us in future studies which will investigate the effects of the heart lung machine, used in open heart surgery to support the circulation, on other organs and vessels in the body"

Further information for journalists is available at http://newsdesk.gla.ac.uk/pressreleases

Media Relations Office (media@gla.ac.uk)

You are invited to be represented at the official inauguration of the Scanning Electronmicroscopy Suite will take place in the Cardiac Surgical Laboratory, Level 5, University Block, Queen Elizabeth Building at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary, 10 Alexandra Parade at 11am. on Thursday 14 June.

For further information please contact

Iain Lowis

BHF Director for Scotland

Telephone 0131 226 3705

Professor David Wheatley

Professor of Cardiac Surgery

Telephone 0141 211 4730

Mike Brown

University of Glasgow Press Office

0141 330 3535

The British Heart Foundation is a major national charity that plays a leading role in the fight against heart and circulatory disease, the UK?s biggest killer. It is the largest independent funder of heart research in the UK. The Foundation also plays an important role in funding education, both of the public and health professionals, and in providing life-saving cardiac care equipment and support for rehabilitation and patient care. It receives no government funding.

First published: 14 June 2001