Patent attributes
A method is provided for preparing pericardial tissue that is used for a bioprosthetic heart valve assembly. According to this method, pericardial tissue is harvested from a host animal and then cleaned. The cleaned tissue is then fixed using glutaraldehyde. After fixation of the tissue, the residual antigenic components are removed to preserve the tissue structural integrity for its long-term performance. In addition, higher concentrations of alcohol are used to reduce the tissue bioburden, and at the same time to dehydrate the tissue followed by preserving the tissue with glycerol so as to mitigate glutaraldehyde-storage related issues for the bioprosthetic heart valve.