Jun 22, 2022
Techtextil Innovation Award 2022 goes to ITM for the development of novel textile heart valve prostheses
Award-winning team from ITM of the Techtextil Innovation Award 2022: Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Dipl.-Wirt. Ing. Chokri Cherif (ITM, 2nd from left), Philipp Schegner (ITM, center) and Dr.-Ing. Dilbar Aibibu (ITM, 2nd from right) together with Michael Jänecke (Messe Frankfurt, left) and Dr. Heike Iling-Günther (STFI; jury member of the Techtextil Innovation Award, right)
On June 21, 2022, scientists from the Institute of Textile Machinery and High Performance Material Technology (ITM) at TU Dresden received the Techtextil Innovation Award 2022 in the "New Product" category at the international trade fair Techtextil 2022 for their woven heart valve implants.
As part of an Industrial Collective Research (IGF) research project, ITM scientists developed innovative textile heart valve prostheses. The implants can be precisely adapted to the anatomical shape and placed in the heart in a minimally invasive manner. The textile heart valve is manufactured integrally. The valve is integrated in situ during the weaving process. The flow-optimized heart valve therefore consists of a single textile structure. Further joining processes, e.g. sewing, are no longer necessary. In contrast to today's production of biological heart valve prostheses by hand, this reduces the manufacturing effort enormously.
Neuartige gewebte textile Herzklappenprothese
Prof. Chokri Cherif, Director of the Institute of the ITM, and his team are very pleased with the continuous interdisciplinary research successes that are constantly being achieved at the ITM in close cooperation with technical weaving mills, medical professionals and users. "Two years ago, we were honored with this innovative development as one of the three finalist teams for the Otto von Guericke Prize 2020. The selection for the Techtextil Innovation Award 2022 is a renewed confirmation of the need for our practice-oriented research and a special recognition, but at the same time a further incentive for the timely implementation of our research results in industry."
To date, mechanical and biological valves have been available for the treatment of defective heart valves. The new woven heart valve prostheses are intended to combine the advantages of both types: unlimited lifespan, no lifelong intake of blood-thinning medication and minimally invasive surgery. Furthermore, the textile heart valves can be produced in a time and cost-saving manner with high reproducibility and quality.
A video presentation of the award-winning project can be found under this link.
Information for journalists:
TUD Dresden University of Technology
Institute of Textile Machinery and High Performance Material Technology (ITM)
Head of the research group "Bio- and Medical Textiles"
Dr.-Ing. Dilbar Aibibu
Phone +49 351 / 463 3944040
E-mail:
TUD Dresden University of Technology
Institute of Textile Machinery and High Performance Material Technology (ITM)
Research Associate
Dipl.-Ing. Philipp Schegner
Phone +49 351 / 463 34408
E-mail: