Pigs’ Hearts Offer Inexpensive Testing Method

R&D DIGEST

Speeding up the development of tools for heart surgery is the aim of a machine built at North Carolina State University (NCSU; Raleigh). The dynamic heart system pumps pressurized saline solution through a pig heart, enabling it to function similarly to a live heart.

The research team says that this machine can help medical device developers reduce the cost and time associated with multiple animal trials. In a university release, Andrew Richards, the designer of the machine and a PhD student at NCSU, said that, “Researchers can obtain pig hearts from a pork processing facility and use the system to test their prototypes.”
The machine is not intended as a replacement for animal trials, but rather as a way to streamline the trials process. “This system creates an intermediate stage of testing that did not exist before. It allows researchers to perform ‘proof of concept' evaluations and refine the designs, before operating on live animals,” says Greg Buckner, PhD, director of the project and an associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at NCSU.
The system is inexpensive for researchers to use. After the machine is purchased and set up, Richards says that it costs about $25 to run an experiment on the system. An equivalent experiment performed on a live animal would cost approximately $2500, he says.
In addition to testing prototypes, the machine also makes it possible for researchers to study surgical techniques. The computer-controlled machine allows the inside of a pumping heart to be filmed, which helps researchers determine the best method for repairing heart valves.
This project was funded by The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health. The Annals of Biomedical Engineering recently published the researchers' findings.
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