Take heart in airborne solution

At first glance airplane wings and human hearts have little in common, but, say a team of European researchers, a technology used to measure airflow over wings can now be used to help keep hearts in working order.

The researchers optimised a Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) system traditionally used to improve the aerodynamics of aircraft wings to make it capable of accurately measuring the effects of medical implants on blood flow.

Their work, published by IST Results, will allow medical device manufacturers to improve the design of devices such as heart valves and pumps, and provide doctors with a way to detect, and ultimately correct, the side-effects that commonly afflict patients who receive implants.

“This system could revolutionise heart treatments,” says Fabrizio Lagasco, co-ordinator of the SMART-PIV project.

The SMART-PIV system - which combines the optimised PIV hardware with advanced image processing and numerical analysis software over a parallel computing subsystem - fills a gap in the heart device sector that has limited the efficiency of implants.