(Newswire.net — January 20, 2017) — A so called “soft robotic sleeve” can also aid in their recovery and reduce the risk of stroke and infection, according to scientists from Harvard University and Boston Children’s Hospital who published the test results in Science Translational Medicine.
In a paper published on Wednesday, researchers say that the device is being designed to “augment cardiac function by closely replicating it, instead of disrupting it.”
While waiting for a new heart from a donor, patients are currently using the VAD (ventricular assist devices). It is a mechanical blood pumping device which consists of a blood pumping mechanism and a serial of tubes that the blood runs through. In order to control the process, some of tubes take blood out of the heart, run it through pumping machines and return the blood into patients’ ventricular system.
The complex mechanism can induce blood clutches that can lead to a stroke. That’s why the patients need to take blood-thinning anticoagulants. The anticoagulant drugs, however, can cause bleeding problems, and around 20% of patients can still suffer a stroke.
Unlike the VAD, the robotic sleeve is completely implanted in the patients’ body and doesn’t come into contact with blood. It is made of silicone that can be adjusted depending on the size of the heart, and fits snugly around it, the scientists say.
The implant is attached in a way that reduces friction and inflammation as it moves over the surface of the heart.
The device uses compressed air to squeeze and release the sleeve mimicking the heart beats. The tempo is controlled by sensors in the sleeve which can also monitor the pressure.
“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 study reads.
Heart failure currently afflicts about 5.7 million people in the US, costing the nation an estimated $30.7 billion each year, according to the American Heart Association.