This collection of Starr-Edwards prosthetic heart valves can be seen in the Maude Abbott Medical Museum in the Strathcona Building of McGill University in Montreal. “The earliest widely used prosthetic valve was developed by engineer Lowell Edwards and cardiac surgeon Albert Starr. The first human implant was performed in 1960. The valve consists of a stellite or silastic rubber ball housed in a 4 or 4 strut metal cage. A variety of alterations were made over the following decade in an attempt to improve its function”1.
- Photos by Luca Borghi @ (July 2017), courtesy of Richard Fraser and Joan O’Malley (Maude Abbott Medical Museum)
- Locate the item on this Google Map
Bibliography
- L.Borghi, “Heart Matters. The Collaboration Between Surgeons and Engineers in the Rise of Cardiac Surgery”, in Raffaele Pisano (ed.), A Bridge between Conceptual Frameworks. Sciences, Society and Technology Studies, Springer, 2015, pp.53-68
- A.M.Matthews, The development of the Starr-Edwards heart valve, Tex Heart Inst J. 1998; 25(4): 282–293