Soft robot offers hope for heart failure patients

The technology – a soft robotic sleeve which wraps around the heart and twists and compresses in synch with its beat – could lead to new treatment options for people suffering from heart failure, a condition which, in the UK alone, affects around 900,000 people.

Systems known as ventricular assist devices (VADs) are already used to sustain heart failure patients awaiting transplant but can lead to complications, including an increased risk of clotting.

Unlike VADs, the soft robotic sleeve does not directly contact blood, avoiding that risk.

To achieve this the researchers took inspiration from the heart itself. The thin silicone sleeve uses soft pneumatic actuators placed around the heart to mimic the outer muscle layers of the mammalian heart. The actuators twist and compress the sleeve in a similar motion to the beating heart. The device is tethered to an external pump, which uses air to power the soft actuators.

"This research demonstrates that the growing field of soft robotics can be applied to clinical needs and potentially reduce the burden of heart disease and improve the quality of life for patients," explained one of the lead researchers on the project, Dr Ellen Roche of National University of Ireland Galway.