Leaders in Pharmaceutical Business Intelligence (LPBI) Group

March 4, 2014

Recently, a somewhat more modest medical device — and one that could find its way relatively quickly into treatment protocols — was created using 3D printing. Researchers Igor Efimov from Washington University in St. Louis and John Rogers from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign used MRI and CT scans of rabbit and human hearts to 3D-print custom-fitting flexible mesh sacs that fit each heart perfectly and stayed in place as it beat.

“Each heart is a different shape, and current devices are one-size-fits-all and don’t at all conform to the geometry of a patient’s heart,” said Efimov.

Inside its fabric, the mesh can also hold sensors that monitor for signs of trouble and deliver electrical pulses, if needed. The sensors are embedded in the fabric using technology similar to what Google has said it will use in sugar-monitoring contact lenses, only more nuanced.

Doctors can position the sensors or electrodes more precisely using the wrap than by attaching them directly to the heart with sutures or adhesives, Efimov and Rogers state in a recent paper in Nature Communications. They demonstrate in the paper that sensors attached to the mesh (or multifunctional integumentary membrane) accurately measure temperature, mechanical strain and pH, and could deliver pulses of electricity.