Novel approach to treating heart failure

Artificial muscles

Cardiac insufficiency is a common disease, affecting one in every fifty adults. At the Center for Artificial Muscles in Neuchâtel, researchers are working on a state-of-the-art solution to help patients – they’re creating an artificial muscle that will give weak hearts a boost.


The project in brief

A ring around the aorta that dilates and contracts like a steady heartbeat: this is the principle behind Yves Perriard’s innovative approach to helping patients with cardiac insufficiency. The microengineer at the Center for Artificial Muscles at ETH Lausanne’s Neuchâtel campus works in partnership with renowned cardiac specialists – and his project has already made tremendous progress.

Some two hundred thousand people in Switzerland suffer from cardiac insufficiency. Medication is generally prescribed to treat the disease, but unpleasant side effects are common. In severe cases of heart failure, ventricular pumps are inserted to help the weakened organ, or a new heart is implanted. At the Center for Artificial Muscles at ETH Lausanne’s Neuchâtel campus, researchers are seeking a less invasive treatment. In 2018, the Werner Siemens Foundation began funding the Center, which is led by microengineer Yves Perriard, who works closely with renowned doctors such as cardiac surgeon Thierry Carrel.

Their idea is to place a ring made of silicon rubber around the aorta to act like an artificial muscle. The ring is powered by an external battery worn by the patient. In rhythmic intervals, the ring dilates to expand the artery and help the heart pump blood through the body. One of the great advantages of the artificial muscle is that it never comes into contact with the blood, as it’s placed on the outside wall of the aorta. This naturally prevents blood clots from forming, so patients have no need to take blood thinners.

Just a few years in, the project has already progressed in leaps and bounds. This past year, surgeons demonstrated that the technology works by successfully implanting the artificial muscle in the heart of a pig. The team are also working on other kinds of artificial muscles, for instance urethral sphincters and facial muscles.


Facts and figures

Project

The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne, Inselspital Bern and University Hospital Zurich are collaborating to develop an artificial muscle that runs on electricity.  

Support

The Werner Siemens Foundation is funding the establishment of the Center for Artificial Muscles (CAM) in Neuchâtel, Switzerland.  

Funding from the Werner Siemens Foundation

12 million Swiss francs

Project duration

2018 to 2029

Project leader

Prof. Dr Yves Perriard, director of the Center for Artificial Muscles and the Integrated Actuators Laboratory (LAI), Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne

Partners

Prof. Dr Thierry Carrel, Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Inselspital Bern
Prof. Dr Dominik Obrist, ARTORG Center for Biomedical Engineering Research, University of Bern
Prof. Dr Nicole Lindenblatt, Department of Plastic Surgery and Hand Surgery, University Hospital Zurich