By combining Soft Robotics and in situ Tissue Engineering, the Holland Hybrid Heart (HHH) will become the first in vivo functional artificial organ that has the potential to resemble the behaviour of a healthy human heart, which is essential to offer a lifesaving solution and improve the quality of life for heart failure patients. The current mainstay of cardiac replacement is transplantation of human donor hearts. However, heart transplantation is severely limited by the shortage of donor organs and the need for long-term immuno-suppression with related complications. Mechanical solutions devised to date still have limited availability and applicability and carry a high risk of complications such as thrombosis, bleeding and infections. Furthermore, the quality of life of patients on mechanical assist devices is very limited. The replacement of the heart with a bioinspired soft robotic copy with biocompatible surfaces, that actively adjusts to the patient’s physiological condition, could potentially and sustainably save thousands of lives annually across the globe, in a radically new approach.
Due to its multidisciplinary nature and potential societal impact, HHH is strongly linked to the Dutch National Science Agenda. There is a clear connection to the “Regenerative Medicine” and “Materials” route, as the team merges deep understanding of the natural heart (Cluster question #88) with profound new developments in the fields of soft robotics (#120), regenerative medicine (#100), material science and designer matter (#120) to develop a personalized and affordable artificial heart (#94, #121). The HHH consortium will push the development of these newly emerging technologies forward and uniquely combines soft robotics and in situ tissue engineering to generate the first biocompatible, soft actuated heart. Guided by a direct involvement of patients and patient organizations, this project will deliver Proof-of-Principle for full in vivo cardiac functionality of the artificial HHH in large animals within 7 years.
