Roche, ET, Horvath, MA, Wamala, I et al. (12 more authors) (2017) Soft robotic sleeve supports heart function. Science Translational Medicine, 9 (373). eaaf3925. ISSN 1946-6234
Abstract
There is much interest in form-fitting, low-modulus, implantable devices or soft robots that can mimic or assist in complex biological functions such as the contraction of heart muscle. We present a soft robotic sleeve that is implanted around the heart and actively compresses and twists to act as a cardiac ventricular assist device. The sleeve does not contact blood, obviating the need for anticoagulation therapy or blood thinners, and reduces complications with current ventricular assist devices, such as clotting and infection. Our approach used a biologically inspired design to orient individual contracting elements or actuators in a layered helical and circumferential fashion, mimicking the orientation of the outer two muscle layers of the mammalian heart. The resulting implantable soft robot mimicked the form and function of the native heart, with a stiffness value of the same order of magnitude as that of the heart tissue. We demonstrated feasibility of this soft sleeve device for supporting heart function in a porcine model of acute heart failure. The soft robotic sleeve can be customized to patient-specific needs and may have the potential to act as a bridge to transplant for patients with heart failure.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | (c) 2017, American Association for the Advancement of Science. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of the AAAS for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Science Translational Medicine Vol. 9, 18 Jan 2017, https://doi.org/10.1126/scitranslmed.aaf3925 |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (Leeds) > School of Mechanical Engineering (Leeds) > Institute of Functional Surfaces (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 30 Jan 2017 14:55 |
Last Modified: | 03 Nov 2017 01:46 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1126/scitranslmed.aaf3925 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | American Association for the Advancement of Science |
Identification Number: | 10.1126/scitranslmed.aaf3925 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:111341 |