School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, 29 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, 3 Blackfan Circle, Longwood, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Sci Transl Med. 2017 Jan 18;9(373). doi: 10.1126/scitranslmed.aaf3925.
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.
人们对贴合身体、低模量、可植入的设备或软机器人很感兴趣，这些设备或机器人可以模拟或辅助复杂的生物功能，如心肌收缩。我们提出了一种软机器人套管，它被植入心脏周围，可以主动压缩和扭曲，充当心脏心室辅助装置。该套管不与血液接触，无需进行抗凝治疗或使用血液稀释剂，减少了当前心室辅助设备的并发症，如血栓形成和感染。我们的方法采用了一种受生物启发的设计，将单个收缩元件或致动器以分层螺旋和环绕方式定向，模仿哺乳动物心脏外两层肌肉的取向。由此产生的可植入软机器人模仿了天然心脏的形状和功能，其刚度值与心脏组织处于同一数量级。我们在急性心力衰竭的猪模型中证明了这种软套管设备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，并且有可能成为心力衰竭患者进行移植的桥梁。
