Researchers have created a living robot heart that beats like the real thing by combining a living heart with a silicone robotic pump and focusing on the valves on the left side of the heart.Heart valve simulator, published January 10 in the journal devicecan mimic the structure, function, and movement of a healthy or diseased heart, allowing surgeons and researchers to demonstrate different interventions while collecting real-time data.
“This simulator will be extremely useful as a research tool for those studying various heart valve conditions and interventions,” said senior author Ellen Roche, a biomedical engineer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “It will serve as a surgical training platform for clinicians, medical students and trainees, enable device engineers to research new designs, and even help patients learn more about their disease and potential treatments.” It will help you understand.”
Before a new intervention is applied to humans, it undergoes rigorous testing in cardiac simulators and animal subjects. However, current heart simulators do not fully capture the complexity of the heart and have a short shelf life of 2 to 4 hours. Animal research is expensive and time-consuming, and the results do not always translate to humans. Biorobotic hearts could fill these gaps as an inexpensive method with a shelf life of several months.
The researchers focused on mitral regurgitation. Mitral regurgitation is a disease in which the valve between the left ventricle does not close properly, causing the heart valve to leak and blood to flow backwards. The disease affects about 24.2 million people worldwide and can cause shortness of breath, swelling of the hands and feet, and heart failure. Due to the complexity of the valve structure, surgery to correct this disease is highly complex, highlighting the need for effective techniques and precise surgical techniques.
To better understand the mitral valve in healthy and diseased states, the research team built a biorobotic heart based on a pig heart. The researchers replaced the myocardium in the left ventricle with a soft robotic pump system made of silicone and powered by air. Once inflated, the system twists and compresses the heart like a real heart muscle, pumping artificial blood into a mock circulatory system and simulating the beating of a biological heart.
When the research team damaged the mitral valve of a biorobotic heart, it showed characteristics of a leaky heart valve. The team then had cardiac surgeons use three different techniques to repair the damage. These include fixing the flailing leaflet tissue with an artificial cord, replacing the valve with an artificial valve, and implanting a device to help the leaflet close.
All three procedures were successful, with normal pressure, blood flow, and heart function. The system also allows the research team to collect real-time data during surgery and is compatible with current imaging technology used in the clinic. The artificial blood used in this system is transparent, which also allows for direct visualization of the procedure. The results of this study demonstrated that this device is a new cardiac model.
“It was very interesting for the surgeons to watch every step,” says Roche. “When you’re treating a patient, there’s blood flowing through the heart, so you can’t visualize that process.” She says their heart model is a realistic model for cardiac surgery training and practice. We expect that the environment will be
Next, the team aims to optimize current biorobotic heart systems by reducing manufacturing time and further extending shelf life. Instead of using a pig heart, they are also researching 3D printing technology to recreate a human artificial heart for their system.
“Our biorobotic heart could help improve device design cycles, enable rapid iteration, gain regulatory approval, and get to market quickly,” Roche says. . “Speeding and improving these processes will ultimately benefit patients.”