Print and Pump: 3D-Printed Replica Robotic Heart

Photo credit: Melanie Gonick, MIT

Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States have designed a method for developing a soft, flexible replica of a heart via 3D printing.

By converting medical images of a patient’s heart into a 3D computer model, the team then used a flexible polymer-based ink to 3D-print the custom replica. The stretchy nature of the ink allowed for a soft robotic model that exactly matched the patient’s real heart, including accurate recreation of heart-pumping pressures and flows.

As no two hearts are exactly alike, it is hoped that the patient-specific technology will assist doctors in evaluating the most appropriate treatment plans based on their patients’ individual anatomy and physical heart function – especially for those with unusual or challenging cardiac structures.

“There are massive variations [in hearts], especially when patients are sick,” said study co-author and graduate student in the MIT-Harvard Program in Health Sciences and Technology, Luca Rosalia in a press statement.

“The advantage of our system is that we can recreate not just the form of a patient’s heart, but also its function in both physiology and disease.”

The research was recently published in Science Robotics.