ETH researchers from the Functional Materials Laboratory have developed a silicone heart that beats almost like a human heart. In collaboration with colleagues from the Product Development Group Zurich, they have tested how well it works.
It looks like a real heart. And this is the goal of the first entirely soft artificial heart: to mimic its natural model as closely as possible. The silicone heart has been developed by Nicholas Cohrs, a doctoral student in the group led by Wendelin Stark, Professor of Functional Materials Engineering at ETH Zurich. The reasoning why nature should be used as a model is clear. Currently used blood pumps have many disadvantages: their mechanical parts are susceptible to complications while the patient lacks a physiological pulse, which is assumed to have some consequences for the patient.
“Therefore, our goal is to develop an artificial heart that is roughly the same size as the patient’s own one and which imitates the human heart as closely as possible in form and function,” says Cohrs. A well-functioning artificial heart is a real necessity: about 26 million people worldwide suffer from heart failure while there is a shortage of donor hearts. Artificial blood pumps help to bridge the waiting time until a patient receives a donor heart or their own heart recovers.
The soft artificial heart was created from silicone using a 3D-printing, lost-wax casting technique; it weighs 390 grams and has a volume of 679 cm3. “It is a silicone monoblock with complex inner structure,” explains Cohrs. This artificial heart has a right and a left ventricle, just like a real human heart, though they are not separated by a septum but by an additional chamber. This chamber is in- and deflated by pressurized air and is required to pump fluid from the blood chambers, thus replacing the muscle contraction of the human heart.
Thinking in a new direction
Anastasios Petrou, a doctoral student of the Product Development Group Zurich, led by Professor Mirko Meboldt evaluated the performance of this soft artificial heart. The young researchers have just published the results of the experiments in the scientific journal Artificial Organs.
They proved that the soft artificial heart fundamentally works and moves in a similar way to a human heart. However, it still has one problem: it currently lasts for about only 3,000 beats, which corresponds to a lifetime of half to three quarters of an hour. After that, the material can no longer withstand the strain. Cohrs explains: “This was simply a feasibility test. Our goal was not to present a heart ready for implantation, but to think about a new direction for the development of artificial hearts.” Of course, the tensile strength of the material and the performance would have to be enhanced significantly.
Learn more: Testing a soft artificial heart
The Latest on: artificial heart
[google_news title=”” keyword=”artificial heart” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]- From Karachi To Chennai: Pakistani Teen’s Journey For A New Hearton April 28, 2024 at 3:21 am
The heartwarming story of a 19-year-old Pakistani girl getting a new lease on life after a successful heart transplant in India highlights how borders can be eased for humanitarian purposes and the ...
- From Karachi to Chennai: Pakistani teen Ayesha Rashan’s journey for a new hearton April 28, 2024 at 2:52 am
Heartwarming story of Pakistani girl Ayesha Rashan’s successful heart transplant in India highlights challenges faced by heart patients in neighbouring countries.
- Grandmother gets new lease on life from heart pump, pig kidneyon April 25, 2024 at 5:23 pm
A grandmother on the brink of death received an experimental surgery earlier this month, getting a new heart valve and a kidney from a gene-edited pig ...
- Edwards Lifesciences first-quarter profit beats estimates on heart devices strengthon April 25, 2024 at 2:29 pm
Edwards Lifesciences Corp on Thursday reported upbeat first-quarter profit due to strong demand for its artificial heart valves and other medical devices.
- The world’s most advanced long-term artificial heart is on the cusp of implantationon April 17, 2024 at 9:55 pm
Using magnetic levitation technology, the world's first long-term artificial heart won't wear out, age or break. It's small enough for ...
- At last: a real bionic hearton April 15, 2024 at 5:00 pm
The world's first artificial heart has become a reality now that an unnamed patient in the U.S. has received a completely selfcontained mechanical heart. Due to be used on more trial patients in ...
- Artificial heart boy recoverson April 7, 2024 at 5:00 pm
The youngest ever person to receive an artificial heart implant has had it removed when his own heart started working again. Sixteen-year-old Jamie Darney from Port Talbot in south Wales was given ...
- New heart pump available for Devon surgeonson March 19, 2024 at 3:46 am
Doctors in Devon have completed surgery with the "world's smallest artificial heart pump" for the first time. University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust said its cardiology team at Derriford used an ...
- New OPB documentary profiles the Oregon-based inventors of the first successful artificial heart valve, a breakthrough in cardiac surgeryon December 14, 2023 at 2:46 am
OPB has premiered a new documentary that traces the development of the world’s first successful artificial mitral heart valve by a young, Oregon-based cardiac surgeon and a retired engineer.
- CARMAT opens artificial heart facility in Franceon December 6, 2023 at 11:40 am
The new facility has been reviewed by the notified body DEKRA who approved it to produce the Aeson total artificial heart, a therapeutic alternative for people with end-stage biventricular heart ...
via Google News and Bing News