This is a prototype of an artificial heart valve invented by pioneering heart surgeon Dr. Charles Hufnagel (1916-1989). Instead of an interior ball to help the blood flow in one direction, this valve has a tri-leaflet insertion. In 1952 Hufnagel and his team at Georgetown University invented and implanted the first successful artificial heart valve in a human. Hufnagel experimented with various materials but settled on polymethylmethacrylate, a hard, clear plastic more popularly known by the trade name of Plexiglas or Lucite.
The museum's collection of Hufnagel valves shows some of the early designs tested when first trying to produce a workable artificial heart valve.
