Development in using new materials to create prosthetic organs is underway in Tompkins County. Engineers at Cornell University have been experimenting with elastomer foams as an alternative to metals that are used in prosthetics. Reporter Philip O'Driscoll tells us about the project's first attempts.
With the ability to mold foam into any shape, Cornell University Professor Rob Shepheard and a team of research assistants have created a model of the human heart.
This first model was created to pump just like a heart, but it's still in early development.
"It doesn't achieve the flow rates and pressures to totally replace the heart," Cornell University Professor Robert Shepherd of the Cornell University Mechanical Engineering Department said.
But the current push behind this project comes from the use of softer non-metallic materials to create a prosthetic human organ or limb.
Shepherd says advances in rubber are making it possible.
"The rubber materials that we're using have improved greatly in the last 50 years whereas before if we were to use natural rubber 50 years ago we wouldn't be able to apply the forces we need," Shepherd said.
And because of its flexibility, creating the right shape for a patient is highly possible.
"It could be customized to a patient to fit inside their chest cavity. All of that would be possible with this process and with soft materials like this," Ben Mac Murray a Cornell University PhD student and graduate research assistant on the project said.
Despite this project being in its early phases of production, this hearts functionality has piqued the interest of some in the medical community on how best to apply its uses.
"The reason we started pursuing this heart is through conversations with doctors at Weill Cornell Medical College," Shepherd said.
They are hoping to use it as a support device for human hearts.
But before this can be found in an operation room, FDA approval is required.
Shepherd is also looking to use foam to create prosthetic arms and legs.
The project received funding from the Airforce Office of Scientific Research, 3M and the National Science Foundation.