New heart model is being developed to help people suffering from heart failure

RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences researchers have developed a novel lab-based model of a heart and circulatory system that will help in the testing of devices to cure one of the most frequent kinds of heart failure.

The study’s findings were published in the journal ‘Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine.’ RCSI collaborated with the National College of Art and Design on the study, which employed two distinct types of circulatory models, including a silicone heart model (NCAD).

Heart failure is classified into two types: heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) and heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) (HFrEF).

Ejection fraction is a measurement of the heart’s capacity to circulate oxygen-rich blood throughout the body.

The proportion of individuals presenting with heart failure with normal or maintained ejection fraction measurement has increased in recent years, most likely due to an increase in the frequency of common risk factors such as advanced age, high blood pressure, and obesity. Women are more vulnerable than males.

In this RCSI study, a model known as a’mock circulatory loop’ was created to simulate both a healthy heart and a heart in failure with intact ejection fraction. The model allows for the evaluation of prospective heart failure therapy devices in terms of their impact on both chambers on the left side of the heart.

This model may put equipment to the test to check the left atrium, the upper chamber responsible for receiving oxygen-rich blood from the lungs, as well as the left ventricle, the bottom chamber responsible for pumping oxygen-rich blood across the body.

“Half of the patients presenting with heart failure have heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, and the numbers are increasing in the developed world in particular due to the increase in the prevalence of risk factors,” said Dr Aamir Hameed, Lecturer in the Department of Anatomy and Regenerative Medicine and Principal Investigator with the Tissue Engineering Research Group at RCSI. The illness can be difficult to cure with medications and places a significant strain on health-care systems worldwide.

“The establishment of this lab-based model represents a watershed moment in heart failure research because it allows for the testing of devices with the potential to cure an illness that affects millions of people worldwide, enhancing their quality of life and lowering the strain on health systems.”

“Until now, no lab model had been developed that could both mimic the cardiac cycle and features two independently controlled cardiac chambers to fully simulate the blood flow of the left atrium and the left ventricle during the resting phase of the cardiac cycle,” said Dr Andrew Malone, Postdoctoral Researcher at RCSI. This is a significant step forward in the creation of a reliable method of assessing heart failure device therapy.’

Enterprise Ireland financed the study, which is assisting in the development of the RCSI pipeline spin-out business, Pumpinheart Ltd., which will commercialise a revolutionary medical device for the treatment of heart failure with maintained ejection fraction.

“We are excited to use this intriguing new model through our spin-off Pumpinheart, which has the potential to turn our research into a real-world treatment for patients who would otherwise have limited treatment options,” Dr Hameed added.