Soft robotic sleeve supports heart function
Soft robotic sleeve supports heart function
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DOI：
10.1126/scitranslmed.aaf3925
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发表时间：
2017-01-18
影响因子：
17.1
通讯作者：
Walsh, Conor J.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Roche, Ellen T.;Horvath, Markus A.;Walsh, Conor J.
人们对形状拟合、低模量、可植入设备或软机器人非常感兴趣，这些设备或软机器人可以模仿或辅助复杂的生物功能，例如心肌收缩。我们提出了一种软机器人套管，植入心脏周围，并积极压缩和扭曲，作为一个心脏心室辅助装置。套管不接触血液，避免了对抗凝治疗或血液稀释剂的需要，并减少了当前心室辅助装置的并发症，如凝血和感染。我们的方法使用了一种生物灵感的设计，以分层螺旋和圆周的方式定向单个收缩元件或致动器，模仿哺乳动物心脏外两个肌肉层的方向。由此产生的可植入软机器人模仿了天然心脏的形式和功能，其刚度值与心脏组织的刚度值具有相同的数量级。我们证明了这种软套管装置在急性心力衰竭猪模型中支持心脏功能的可行性。软机器人套管可以根据患者的具体需求进行定制，并可能成为心力衰竭患者移植的桥梁。
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.