Author: Isabella Blaney
An artificial heart is a delicate project that requires careful consideration of both the patient’s body and the organ’s function. In order for it to function correctly, it must pump continuously to deliver a constant stream of oxygenated blood to the body’s cells and de-oxygenated blood back to the heart. Additionally, it shall contract and relax at a rate proportional to the person’s breathing rate in order to account for physical activity and sleeping, which prevents over or under circulation. Lastly, the material of the artificial heart must be a biomaterial that integrates with the body and decreases the chance for rejection. The constraints of this project are that it shall take about two minutes to circulate blood through the person’s body, and that it shall not cause irritation or rejection.
Heart failure is a cardiovascular disease potentially caused by heart muscle weakness, coronary artery disease, congenital heart defect, dangerous recurring abnormal heart rhythms, or other heart complications. Current solutions to heart failure consist mainly of heart transplants, which is an operation that replaces a failing heart with a healthier donor heart through surgery. However, heart transplants don’t work for all since advanced age, additional medical conditions, active infections, personal history of cancer, or unwilling lifestyle changes could interfere. There is also a large amount of implantable devices and medications available. For example, vasodilators expand blood vessels, ease blood flow, and reduce blood pressure, and mechanical pumps (VADs) are implanted to help pump blood from a weakened heart throughout the body. Lastly, anticoagulants and anti-platelets like aspirin help prevent blood clots by thinning blood. However, these solutions are only temporary, as they can only be used for a limited amount of time before causing irritation or losing effectiveness.
What if there was a long-term alternative to heart transplants? Imagine a hybrid heart with components of both the patient’s cell tissue and mechanical components to keep it running. For the cellular component, cartilage and denatured collagen scaffolds could be used to grow a replacement heart through tissue engineering & regenerative medicine principles. The benefit of this is creating an implant that is made of the patient’s own cells, reducing the risk of rejection to near zero. However, a completely cellular heart may not integrate as planned, and there may not be enough resources to create a complete heart from scratch. For the mechanical component, a sensor would need to be implemented in order to synchronize the breath rate to the heart rate. However, a completely mechanical heart has a high chance of irritation and rejection, and could be invasive. Thus, a hybrid artificial heart maximizes the advantages of both while minimizing their disadvantages.
A mechanical heart with pumps made out of a biomaterial would be the best choice. This prototype shall have a small respiratory sensor (planted outside the chambers of the heart) measure the average of the last 3 breaths to determine the rate the heart should beat at. This will then account for any physical activity or inactivity. Similarly, it will be designed to integrate into the pre-existing arteries and veins, meaning it should taper into the circulatory system with small sutures to secure it in place. Lastly, it should run continuously without risk of stopping due to battery, charge, or malfunction. To do so, it should function based on movement like a watermill or windmill.
This diagram displays a design for the artificial heart prototype previously described. The base of the prototype is a tissue engineered heart, designed to integrate with the patient’s pre-existing circulatory system. Then, where the AV node and AV bundle would typically be, there is an electrical system that is controlled by an implanted respiratory monitor separate from the main body of the prototype. This design follows the natural electrical wiring of the heart, making it easy to integrate and likely to work.
In order to test the prototype without it becoming a biohazard, it should utilize an aqueous-glycerol solution, which can be further modified with components like sodium iodide to achieve specific properties, since it has a similar viscosity and density as blood. Compounds like these are specifically formulated for biomedical engineering and are often used to test consistency of medical devices. In a short-form clinical trial, the prototype should subsequently be run for 24 hours straight with a machine simulating different rates of respiratory activity to test the accuracy of the pumping sensor. This would provide enough data to hopefully prove the device’s viability and potential to investors in order to gain more funding for longer clinical trials.
In the event that the prototype fails clinical testing and trial, it must be redesigned. One component that could potentially fail is the electrical system, as it has the potential to malfunction or run out of power. To avoid this, it could be a hybrid system that initially relies on electricity to jumpstart the beating of the heart, then shifts to a kinetic-based system. In this way, the heart could convert electrical energy to a potential energy stockpile to use later as kinetic energy. This system already exists in the fascia of the body’s organs, making it a feasible option for improving the artificial heart prototype.
Works Cited
Blumenthal, Dr. Roger. “Congestive Heart Failure : Prevention, Treatment and Research.” John Hopkin Medicine, link, Accessed 26 Oct. 2025.
“Heart Transplant.” Mayo Clinic, Jan. 2024, link, Accessed 26 Oct. 2025.
Edited by: Tammy Zhen and Sara Sy
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