What is the issue for NSW?
Around 520,000 Australians are living with mitral regurgitation disease (where blood leaks backward across the mitral valve of the heart) and 44,000 million live with heart failure. These diseases are leading causes of cardiovascular deaths globally. If left untreated, 90% of mitral regurgitation patients can progress to congestive heart failure with a mortality rate of 50% within five years. Currently, left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) are commonly used to support heart pumping function in patients with heart failure. For treating mitral valve disease, a less invasive option is the use of transcatheter mitral valve intervention (TMVI), which avoids the need for open-heart surgery.
Unfortunately, around 40% of mitral valve patients experience blood flow blockage to the aorta after a TMVI procedure. Similarly, around 43% heart failure patients develop right ventricular failure after surgically implanting a LVAD.
There are no available methods or tools that can accurately identify complication risks prior to the procedures, leading to a low success rate for TMVI and poor LVAD outcomes.
What does the research aim to do and how?
This project will develop the first soft robotic heart capable of replicating the motions, blood pressure, and blood flow of a patient’s heart. It will clinicians with optimal pre-procedural planning and decision-making support by predicting possible complications prior to surgery. This new soft robotic heart can be built for each patient so that clinicians can test the prosthetic devices (LVAD, prosthetic valves) in advance. In addition, it can be used as a training platform where clinicians can rehearse complex implantation procedures for TMVI and LVADs. It will allow for early identification of complication risks and improved safety, reducing morbidity and mortality. In addition, it can be used as a rapid and safe training platform for cardiologists in intricate transcatheter-based valve repair and replacement, significantly benefiting those with limited experience. The project represents a shift from current clinical estimation and experimental techniques, significantly enhancing the learning curve for cardiologists and ultimately increasing access to transcatheter mitral valve intervention and left ventricular assist devices programs at lower healthcare costs.