One of the most important organs of the human body was created for a particular patient. It completely replicates the working of heart valves, allowing cardiac surgeons to examine the heart in detail and reduce risks during complex surgeries. Doctors can test the effects of their actions on this simulation without risking damaging a living heart.

what is known

• To create an exact copy of the heart, the patient undergoes a scan, in which a three-dimensional model of the organ is created.
• They are used as the main material. elastic polymers resembling cardiac muscle in their structure.
• Attached pneumatic sleeves, similar to a household tonometer, help to activate the duplication. This causes the artificial heart to contract and then return to its original state. So the model can pump fluid, simulating blood flow.

How technology works: video

After careful observation, doctors can try different types of implants currently used in medicine. The main advantage of this approach is that cardiac surgeons can pre-select the most suitable synthetic valve type for a given patient, taking into account all its characteristics.

In the study, scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University used medical scanning to 3D-printed models of the aorta and left ventricle in 15 patients with aortic stenosis. The replicates were able to accurately replicate the subjects’ blood pressure behaviors. This was confirmed when comparing data before and after operations using similar synthetic valves.