A new paradigm in heart valve design:

The third generation of heart valve aims to deliver high performance, easy of implantation and durability.

1.    Internal titanium core 2.    No external stent 3.    Open leaflets 4.    Double Triangle Geometry (DTG) 5.    No-Stress Tissue fixation   (NST)

The Kalangos® valve represents a major advance in cardiac surgery. Some performance points were verified in pre-clinical studies.

1.    Ease of implantation: Because of the innovative design, based on an internal titanium core, surgeons can easily handle and position the valve, reducing the duration of both the surgical procedure and recovery time. Hospital costs should be reduced.

2.    High performance: Because of the No-Stress fixation Technology (NST) and its unique Double Triangle Geometry (DTG), the Kalangos® valve showed enhanced in vitro hemodynamic performance (plus 20 to 25%) when compared to existing best in class valves in bench tests ⁽¹⁾.

This high hemodynamic performance should result in faster recovery of normal heart function.

The Kalangos ® valve appears to adapt to effort; patients should be able to practice sports and have a better quality of life.

3.   Durability: Kalangos® valves are processed by a No-Stress Tissue (NST) treatment technology that has historically demonstrated the longest durability for heart valves.

Study Results and Performance

The Kalangos® heart valve bio-prosthesis is designed to maximize blood flow. The internal supports are placed to achieve a restoration of the native anatomy at the inflow of the valve; this allows the stress-free, preserved leaflets to function in a manner mimetic of a natural valve.  Moreover, these improvements and benefits are accomplished without the need for tedious suturing of the outflow of the valve, as is common for bio-prosthetic valves which do not incorporate supports, in an effort to increase the flow area.

All the valves perform as expected, showing Effective Orifice Area (EOA) above those of competitor valves even in small sizes (19mm size). In standardized test procedures, the Kalangos® valve has demonstrated 25% superior hemodynamics when compared to best in class competitor heart valves.

Animal tests ⁽¹⁾, performed at the University of Minnesota (Minneapolis), have shown a 100% survival of the animals after 90 days. The surgical procedure was shorter than average and the recovery of the animals was faster than average. The valve appears to adapt to effort in vivo.

A more notable finding is that the Kalangos® valve requires only about 50% of the work necessary to accommodate any given cardiac output compared to the Mosaic® bioprosthetic valve ⁽²⁾.  Energy Loss represents the “work “necessary to obtain a specific hemodynamic result ⁽³⁾. Clinically, this is of primary importance in reducing the amount of energy necessary to open the leaflets, which could be reflected in faster patient recovery time and decreased stress during ventricle contraction. In practical terms, this indicates that the left ventricle of the heart will be required to perform less work, resulting in an accelerated return of “normal“ function. Moreover, the valves demonstrate adaptation to effort (which is not the case with stented valves).