Sydney-based senior cardiothoracic surgeons, Professors Michael Vallely and Paul Bannon, and Dr Hugh Paterson, along with medical device engineer Ashish Mitra, invented a heart valve with the potential to revolutionise cardiac surgery. Existing artificial mitral valves require part of the native valve to be removed by surgeons during insertion, which can damage heart pump function. The Sydney Heart Valve is shaped to augment the native valve, allowing its full retention and preserving ventricular function. “It is particularly important in heart failure patients who cannot afford further damage to their heart,” Paterson says. The team has canvassed key opinion leaders in cardiac surgery around the world, says Bannon: “They agree that this is a major step forward in valve design.”