Every heart beats differently. Even the size and shape of a heart vary from person to person, especially in individuals diagnosed with heart disease, as their hearts and main vessels must work harder to conquer any compromised function. However, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) engineers have recently developed a procedure to 3D print an adaptable replica of a patient’s heart, tailored to fit that specific patient’s heart form and function. The ability of the replica to imitate the patient’s ability to pump blood can then be controlled.
The procedure starts with converting medical images of a patient’s heart into a 3D computer model. Using a polymer-based ink, these medical images can be 3D printed and result in a soft, flexible shell that perfectly replicates the shape of the patient’s own heart. An identical approach can even be utilized to print a patient’s aorta, a major artery that transports blood out of the heart into the rest of the body. In order to mimic the heart’s pumping action, the team has fabricated sleeves similar to blood pressure cuffs that wrap around the printed heart and aorta. These sleeves have undersides that resemble precisely patterned bubble wrap, and when the sleeve is connected to a pneumatic system, researchers can tune outflowing air to periodically inflate the sleeve’s bubbles and contract the heart to mimic its pumping action. Additionally, a separate sleeve surrounding the printed aorta can be inflated to constrict the vessel, and this constriction can be tuned to mimic aortic stenosis, a condition that narrows the aortic valve, effectively making the heart work harder to normalize blood flow throughout the body.
Aortic stenosis is commonly treated by surgically implanting a synthetic valve designed to widen the aorta’s natural valve. In the future, this procedure can be utilized to first print a patient’s heart and aorta, and then a variety of valves can be implanted into the printed model to determine the optimal design for that particular patient’s health. Furthermore, these heart replicas can be even utilized by research labs and the medical device industry to test therapies for various varieties of heart disease. Luca Rosalia, a graduate student in the MIT-Harvard Program in Health Science and Technology, and his colleagues report their results in a recent study in Science Robotics. With this novel breakthrough, the future of the medical technology industry looks bright, to say the least.
Sources:
https://scitechdaily.com/mits-3d-printed-robotic-hearts-look-and-pump-just-like-the-real-thing/
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