Seminar on soft robotics for cardiac support

The Hybrid Heart Consortium is organizing an internal seminar on the 29th of May 2019 at the TU Eindhoven in the Netherlands to bring together all partners and students involved in the project, and to share and discuss the progress of the development of soft robotics technology for cardiac support.

The day will start with presentations by all PhD students involved in the project. First, AMC and AMOLF will share the status of a systematic review of artificial heart technology that they are currently working on. After that, SSSA Pisa will present the status of their work on the soft McKibben actuators that, following a biomimetic approach, will be placed in a soft matrix to develop a soft pumping heart. Next, AMOLF will present their work on the robust soft sensing and control technology that they are developing using soft fluidic networks instead of electronic circuits. Following these presentations on the soft robotic technology, we will continue with presentations focusing on the anti-fouling and tissue-engineering coatings that are being developed at TU Eindhoven.

Additionally we host an invited talk about fluidics and fluid mechanics applied to cardiac support and transcutaneous energy systems, by prof Marcel Rutten, assistant professor at the TU/e department of Biomedical Engineering, research group Cardiovascular Biomechanics, which will be followed by a tour to show his lab and his custom-made mock circulation apparatus.

Importantly, we will ensure fruitful discussions during the day to streamline efforts between partners, and to identify missing links that need further attention. Next to creating room for debate, this will be achieved by organizing a hands-on practical anatomy session in the laboratory in order to get deeper understanding of cardiovascular physiology and pathophysiology, and by providing a specific session focusing on IP strategy hosted by dr. Marc Roelofs, IXA Amsterdam.