Biological Investigation of Explanted Endobronchial Lung Valves Study

Rationale: COPD is a severe, often progressive and currently incurable lung disease which affects both the upper airways (chronic bronchitis) as well as the lower airways (emphysema). In advanced stages of the disease air-trapping severely reduces the ability to breathe and subsequently the quality of life. A highly effective treatment for restoring lung mechanical functionality of these patients is the introduction of bronchoscopic lung volume reduction (BLVR), e.g. implanting small silicone/nitinol valves (EBV) inside the airways to reduce air-trapping. Although successfully investigated in a selected group of severe COPD patients, the effectiveness of the treatment can sometimes be short-lived due to fibrotic and granulation responses and tissue-material interactions. Objective: The main objective of this study is to study and understand the underlying biological principles of gran