What Are the Challenges in Designing Artificial Hearts?

An Artificial Heart is a life-saving device for people who are waiting for a suitable donor for a heart transplant. Although an artificial heart is designed to compensate for the loss of function of your heart, it is not a permanent treatment and is only a temporary transplant until you get a suitable donor. Designing artificial hearts can be quite a challenge, but artificial hearts are needed to save lives. 

With the innovation of medical technology, it is now possible to increase the quality of life of patients by reducing their symptoms. The heart specialist takes part in designing the whole artificial heart and tries to maximize the device's efficiency. Let’s discuss in detail the artificial heart, its uses, challenges in its design, and other heart assistive devices. 

What is an Artificial Heart?

An artificial heart is a mechanical heart pump that is implanted in your lower two chambers of the heart, which are termed as right and left ventricles. The right ventricle pumps blood to the lungs for the oxygenation process, which comes back in the left ventricle and then pumps into the aorta, from where it supplies the whole body. When both these ventricle fails to supply blood, the artificial heart replaces the function and supplies oxygen-rich blood efficiently. 

How Artificial Heart Saves Lives?

An artificial heart consists of an air compressor or driver, drivelines, and batteries. The artificial heart is attached to the driver that remains outside the body and provides a rhythm of pumping action. The driveline connects the artificial heart inside to the driver outside. The batteries are the power source and supply energy to the driver to pump blood. 

Artificial heart may have some complications and risks, but it has helped a lot of people who are waiting for a heart transplant. 

Who needs an artificial heart?

Some of the conditions in which your doctor will recommend going for an artificial heart transplant are listed below:

• End-stage heart failure
• Cardiomyopathy
• Myocardial infarction 
• Congenital heart defects
• Awaiting a heart transplant
• Refractory ventricular arrhythmias
• Cardiac shock after major heart surgery
• Cardiogenic shock

Why are artificial hearts so hard to make?

It is a very complex procedure to make an artificial heart because of the complex functionality of the heart and the immune response of the body to react against a foreign object inside the body. So, in order to make an efficient artificial heart, you need to make a design that can pump blood continuously for longer periods and dodge the rejection by the immune system. The artificial heart should be able to handle the circulatory system of the body; otherwise, it will be of no use. 

Challenges in Designing Artificial Heart:

Some of the challenges that may occur during the design of an artificial heart are discussed below so that you can understand more easily:

Biocompatibility:

When the body detects a foreign object, it triggers the immune response, and it is one of the major challenges while designing an artificial heart. The designs should be such that they do not trigger an immune response, blood clotting, or other side effects like calcification and infection. 

Proper Circulation:

It can be a quiet challenge to make an artificial heart that supplies continuous blood at the right amount and pressure without causing any damage to blood vessels and the device itself. Artificial heart should supply the blood an adequate amount so that it can meet the normal demands of the human body. 

Control System:

The control system in the artificial heart design should be able to detect any abnormality and regulate the functioning according to the needs of your body at the moment. Just like a human heart, an artificial heart should be able to regulate the whole circulatory system, which is a major challenge in designing artificial hearts.

Continuous Power Supply:

One of the other significant challenges is to develop an external power source that can continuously fulfill the demands of the pumping action of your heart. 

Durability:

Just like other heart devices like LVAD, an artificial heart must be able to work for an extended duration without wear and tear. It is important for long-term support, or otherwise it can greatly reduce the quality of life of the patient.

Proper size and weight:

It is a great challenge to make a proper size and weight of the device so that it can be used by both children and the adult population. The smaller size also makes an implantation procedure easy and safe, which reduces the time for complete recovery.

Design and Materials:

The materials used in the making of an artificial heart should be strong, durable, and biocompatible. Finding the most suitable designs and materials to use in the device is another great challenge. We need a heart with design that is suitable to provide long-term support without any damage.

What are the concerns about artificial hearts?

While an artificial heart has significantly improved patient symptoms of heart failure, it has some concerns related to its side effects, long-term effects, and device failure. Let’s talk about some of the common concerns about artificial hearts.

Like any other surgical procedure, the artificial heart device is prone to some side effects, like infection, bleeding, stroke, and in severe cases, kidney or liver problems. Although these side effects can be managed effectively with medications, there is still a chance that they may occur. Device failure or malfunction is another concern, which may require follow-up maintenance and necessary adjustments to prevent device failure. 

What is the future of artificial hearts?

A permanent treatment for chronic heart failure is a heart transplant, but unfortunately, the demand for a healthy heart donor is much higher than the availability. In such conditions, temporary treatments are provided that keep the patient alive and allow them to heal for a heart transplant. One of the medical inventions is an artificial heart that supports a weak heart and restores the blood supply. 

Many patients with severe heart failure are at high risk of getting worse or even dying while waiting for a transplant. To help such patients, you need to find an alternative, like circulatory support devices. The artificial heart is a treatment for patients who are suffering from heart failure on both sides. However, current designs of artificial hearts have size and complication issues. New technology is focusing on making smaller, safer, and more effective devices that can improve materials to reduce bleeding and blood clots, and developing power systems that have fewer chances of infection. This highlights the importance of the future of artificial hearts, which is expected to increase the durability of the device without any serious complications. 

How has the artificial heart affected society?

The artificial heart has affected society significantly in a way that they have increased awareness of heart diseases. While an artificial heart provides a second chance to patients with terminal heart disease, it has also increased the importance of maintaining a good lifestyle to modify risk factors of coronary artery disease and heart failure. 

People are now more conscious of preventive medicine to prevent diseases rather than curing them. However, with the medical advancements and their understanding, society is now able to make informed decisions for themselves and their loved ones. 

Life Expectancy of Artificial Heart:

An artificial heart has a life expectancy of months to even years while waiting for a suitable donor heart. The average life expectancy after an artificial heart is around 4 to 5 years. Although, an artificial heart gives crucial support, a heart transplant is still a need for long-term survival.

What are Assisting Heart Devices, and how are they different from Artificial Heart?

Several assisting devices like RVAD, LVAD, and Total Artificial Heart are now being used to treat severe heart failure. RVAD is used when right-sided heart failure occurs, and LVAD is a device for left-ventricular heart failure. Both of these devices reduce symptoms and improve the quality of life of patients and have been used as a bridge to transplant, recovery, or a destination therapy, according to the individual needs of each patient.

However, LVAD needs a proper handling technique. You need to wear LVAD-specific clothing or use LVAD accessories to provide safety and protection. These are the things that come in a beginner’s guide to LVAD, so that you can accommodate your LVAD heart device without restricting movement. For example, to carry LVAD components, you need to wear LVAD vests and LVAD shirts instead of regular wear, which can perfectly accommodate the device and keep it safe while making you independent in your daily activities.

Final Thoughts:

Artificial hearts are important devices that help save the lives of people waiting for heart transplants. They work by replacing the function of a failing heart and providing a way to pump blood throughout the body. Despite their benefits, designing artificial hearts comes with many challenges, including ensuring they are safe for the body, can pump blood properly, and have a reliable power source. Advances in technology are helping to overcome these challenges, but it remains a complex task. Like any other device, you need to consider LVAD device benefits and risks to make an informed decision. As research continues, we hope to see even better solutions for patients in need of heart support.