It’s not exactly a secret that organ donors are scarce, but the fact remains that there are numerous people out there that are in dire need of a new organ in order to survive. In order to solve this problem, at least partially, scientists are working on creating fully-functional artificial organs such as lungs, livers and hearts. As far as artificial hearts are concerned, a team of scientists from Cornell University have developed an artificial foam heart that can mimic the complex functions and even the shape of the real thing. The artificial heart can be created using a 3D-printed mold and a brand new polymer that can be poured repeatedly in order to achieve the perfect shape.
The resulting product is soft and stretchable, which allows it to be customized in order to meet specific anatomical requirements. It also includes pores that allow it to pump fluids without requiring a lot of energy, and that’s a big advantage in the medical world. The polymer used to create the heart could also find applications in other fields such as soft robotics or prosthetics, which means that it could be used to save lives or at least make lives easier for patients. Cornell researcher Rob Sheperd explains how the heart is created and how it works in the following video.
