A team of biomechanical engineers has developed an artificial human heart left ventricle (LV) that can be used for training heart surgeons and doctors. This innovative device can mimic the shape and function of a real human heart, allowing for realistic surgical practice and the simulation of various heart conditions. The LV is adjustable and can be customized to match the specifics of a patient’s heart, making it a valuable tool for pre-operative planning. This breakthrough technology could significantly improve medical training and patient outcomes. Heart Biomechanics
Replicating the Human Heart
A team of researchers at UNSW, with collaborators from Queensland University of Technology and cardiac surgeons at St Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney, aimed to design an artificial left ventricle (LV) that could closely mimic both the morphology and mechanics of a real human heart. In order to do so, they precisely recreated the three dominant myocyte phenotypes found within human myocardium (myocardial layers: epicardium, transmural and endocardium).
The researchers were able to specify the heart muscle density, the fiber angles that connect muscles and the overall ventricular shape using tunable hydraulic filament artificial muscle fibers. This focus on specificity enabled them to generate an LV capable enough of replicating the intricate rotations and pumping function associated with a real beating heart.
Simulation of Heart Conditions to Train Surgeons
This is not a static model, but a surrogate LV that can be made to pump just as an organic heart. A sign for heart surgeons and many other health professionals to use it as a good learning tool.
The device is adjustable so that its configuration matches the individual characteristics of a patient’s heart, allowing surgeons to practice ahead of time for each operation. To validate the LV, researchers ran it through a loop using hoses that found blood around so the medical team at St. Vincent’s Hospital can see how well it worked with actual human hearts. In transplant experiments, the LV would beat in phase—acting as a true human heart would—in response to interventions mimicking medical approaches such as an intra-aortic balloon pump.
Future of Training in Heart Surgery
The investigators say this artificial LV is a marked improvement over currently available training models for heart surgery. Because it mimics the human heart shape, function and biomechanics extremely well, this module will offer a much more accurate and valuable training experience for clinicians, instructors and students.
The ability to simulate, and therefore practice difficult heart surgeries prior to the actual procedure will only become more important as medical procedures continue to evolve. If successful, this artificial LV can transform heart surgery training resulting in more skilled surgeons, better patient outcomes and a greater depth of understanding the nuances of human heart.
