A completely soft pneumatically driven total artificial heart from silicone elastomers.

The goal of the entirely soft artificial heart is to mimic its natural model as closely as possible. Currently, used blood pumps have many disadvantages: their mechanical parts are susceptible to complications while the patient lacks a physiological pulse, which is assumed to have some consequences for the patient. The developed heart beats almost like a human heart.

Soft artificial heart

The goal of the entirely soft artificial heart is to mimic its natural model as closely as possible. Currently, used blood pumps have many disadvantages: their mechanical parts are susceptible to complications while the patient lacks a physiological pulse, which is assumed to have some consequences for the patient. The developed heart beats almost like a human heart.The soft artificial heart is created from silicone using a 3D-printing, lost-wax casting technique; it weighs 390 grams and has a volume of 679 cm3. It is a silicone monoblock with a complex inner structure. This artificial heart has a right and a left ventricle, just like a real human heart, though they are not separated by a septum but by an additional chamber. This chamber is in- and deflated by pressurized air and is required to pump fluid from the blood chambers, thus replacing the muscle contraction of the human heart.

Explain in detail the design and production process of the soft total artificial heart (sTAH). Then, the evaluation process of the sTAH on a hybrid mock circulation (HMC) is described. Third, the resulting performance of the TAH during pre- and afterload experiments is presented. Finally, the overal

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/318349033_A_Soft_Total_Artificial_Heart-First_Concept_Evaluation_on_a_Hybrid_Mock_Circulation 

Mass

Size

Volumetric size 

sTAH

LV, left ventricle

RV, right ventricle

EC, expansion chamber

sTAH minus chambers (silicone only)

Main body

Main body minus chambers (silicone only)

Blood flow	

Design procedure

Manufacturing technique	

Costs	

A completely soft pneumatically driven total artificial heart from silicone elastomers.



Mass	390	g
Size	1.25	size normal heart
Volumetric size
sTAH	679	cm3
LV, left ventricle	144	cm3
RV, right ventricle	83	cm3