A Robotic Rescuer for Hearts

Failing hearts could someday get an assist from a soft robot designed by mechanical engineering faculty member Ellen Roche, Hermann von Helmholtz Career Development Associate Professor at MIT’s Institute for Medical Engineering and Science. Her device—essentially a heart-hugging silicone sleeve that mimics the material properties and movement of the heart and assists with pumping without contacting blood—was created in collaboration with Harvard researchers and Boston Children’s Hospital surgeons, and was demonstrated in 2017 to effectively restore heart function in pigs.