The University of Louisiana Lafayette’s Artificial Heart Lab, doesn’t make artificial hearts. It uses artificial hearts to test devices designed to help real hearts work better. Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering Charles Taylor, who started the lab, is leading the testing to get the devices approved for use.
Standing in the lab, Taylor holds a silicone model of the left ventricle. He describes it as having “sort of this kidney-shaped opening where the blood flows into the heart, and then this fairly round outlet."
It’s his lab’s version of a ‘crash test dummy.’ He hooks the fake left ventricle to a machine that mimics the flow of blood through the heart.
The ‘vehicle’ he’s testing: the Left Ventricle Assist Device, or LVAD, a mechanical pump that attaches to the heart and helps it push more blood through the body.
What he’s looking for are anatomies that could make the pump unsafe, like the shape of the left ventricle. Whether it’s constricted or dilated will affect how blood flows through it, which could consequently impact how the device functions, resulting in thrombosis or constriction.
The problem with these devices, he says, is that they aren’t custom made for the patient.
"we need to start putting technology forward that accounts for individuality," Taylor says.
In the same way that you would take your physiology into account when choosing which painkiller to take. That could mean a better quality of life for those with a Left Ventricle Assist Device, or LVAD.
“I want to see the patients enjoy and experience what they see in the ads for these devices - the gentleman walking down the country lane with an energy pack slung over his shoulder, an LVAD patient walking through the country," he says.
The technology is there, says Taylor. It’s a matter of ensuring it’s reliable.
"In the same way that the aviation industry became comfortable with autopilot and the automotive industry is embracing driverless cars," he says, "we want to see that with medical devices."