Article Impact Level: HIGH Data Quality: STRONG Summary of Science Robotics, 9(94), eado4553. https://doi.org/10.1126/scirobotics.ado4553 James Davies et al.
Points
- The study introduces a soft robotic left ventricle simulator designed to replicate the human heart’s myocardial structure and cardiac motions using thin-filament artificial muscles.
- The simulator was tested in a left-sided mock circulation loop, successfully reproducing physiological volume and pressure profiles under healthy and failing heart conditions.
- Canine myocardial strain data were used as input signals to validate the simulator’s ability to mimic cardiac movements accurately.
- The simulator demonstrated potential for use in simulating cardiac support interventions, reducing the need for animal models in cardiovascular research.
- This bioinspired soft robotic system could serve as an alternative platform for cardiac device testing, disease modeling, and surgical training, minimizing ethical concerns and improving efficiency in cardiac technology development.
Summary
This study introduces a soft robotic left ventricle simulator designed to mimic the human heart’s complex myocardial architecture and cardiac motions. The device, which utilizes thin-filament artificial muscles, can replicate the detailed multilayered myocardial structure and provides physiological pressures and volumes under different heart conditions, including healthy and heart failure. To validate the robotic system’s performance, the authors used canine myocardial strain data as input signals for the artificial myocardial layers, demonstrating the device’s ability to reproduce cardiac movement accurately.
The study involved testing the simulator in a left-sided mock circulation loop, where it successfully replicated physiological volume and pressure profiles observed in the left ventricle under both healthy and failing heart conditions. The researchers also evaluated the device’s performance in simulating a cardiac support intervention, illustrating its potential application in cardiovascular studies without animal models. This robotic system’s ability to replicate both mechanical heart motion and hemodynamic conditions presents a significant step forward in preclinical device testing, potentially reducing reliance on animal experimentation.
The findings of this research underscore the potential of bioinspired soft robotics to serve as an alternative platform for cardiac device testing, disease modeling, and surgical training. By simulating patient-specific myocardial architecture and motion, this device could enhance precision in cardiovascular interventions and improve surgical training while minimizing ethical concerns and resource demands associated with animal models. This advancement could lead to more efficient development cycles for new cardiac technologies, significantly benefiting research and clinical practice.
Link to the article: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/scirobotics.ado4553
References Davies, J., Thai, M. T., Sharma, B., Hoang, T. T., Nguyen, C. C., Phan, P. T., Vuong, T. N. A. M., Ji, A., Zhu, K., Nicotra, E., Toh, Y.-C., Stevens, M., Hayward, C., Phan, H.-P., Lovell, N. H., & Do, T. N. (2024). Soft robotic artificial left ventricle simulator capable of reproducing myocardial biomechanics. Science Robotics, 9(94), eado4553. https://doi.org/10.1126/scirobotics.ado4553
