4 minute read
Building a Heart
Every 33 seconds, one person in the United States dies from cardiovascular disease, making it the leading cause of death for men and women, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Researchers all over the world have explored ways to create an artificial heart to help patients with cardiovascular disease. At California Baptist University, biomedical engineering students take a design course and learn how to develop 3D-printed artificial heart prototypes that pump fluid at flow rates equivalent to the human heart. CBU students even participated in an artificial heart competition held internally since 2016.
That event caught the eye of a board member at medical device company SynCardia. Together with the International Society for Mechanical Circulatory Support, SynCardia hosted the Heart Hackathon in 2023, the world's first total artificial heart design competition.
SynCardia, the sole manufacturer and provider of the world’s only commercially approved total artificial heart, wanted CBU to participate. All the school needed was a team.
Ryan Krippner (’24), who heard about the event from Dr. Matthew Rickard, professor of biomedical engineering, jumped at the opportunity to form the team.
"Biomedical engineering has always fascinated me because I get to work on devices that have never been developed before," said Krippner, who graduated in April. "The journey for a permanent artificial heart is arguably one of the hardest engineering problems of our lifetime. The fact that we get to contribute to the solution makes it all worth it."
Krippner and five other students launched the CBU Cardiac Engineering team in December 2022. Less than two months later, they had their first prototype. By October 2023, they were in Dallas, presenting their prototype to a panel of top cardiac industry CEOs at the Heart Hackathon.
The competition drew nine teams from around the world with CBUCE the lone representative from the United States.
CBUCE created a peristaltic pump design, which is a type of pump that uses rollers to squeeze fluid through a tube in periodic motion. This is similar to how the esophagus swallows. The pump style is commonly used in cardiac applications because of its ability to mimic the pulsatility of the natural heart while staying compact and power efficient. However, it has never been used to develop an artificial heart. CBUCE is the first to do so. The 3D-prototype is made of a biocompatible polymer.
The team also developed a business plan that included a marketing strategy to assess the viability of the product. After a 15-minute presentation and 25-page final report, CBU placed third.
"This is a real validation of the hard work the students have put into this extracurricular activity as well as the attention to detail that the College of Engineering has put into preparing students for the medtech industry," said Rickard, who launched his own medical technology company in 2017 out of his CBU engineering lab. "The confidence and insight they gained put them a level above other biomedical engineering graduates."
Since then, the CBUCE team has grown to about 40 active members according to team president Joshua Lute, a biomedical engineering senior. Students from any science, technology, engineering or math major can join. Each member is placed on a subteam and responsible for a project related to either research or design of the peristaltic pump.
"Engineering problem solving has become the backbone of CBUCE," Lute said. "We specialize in a unique way of thinking that must be learned through hands-on experience. I believe every member grows in their capacity to think differently and identify creative solutions to unique problems."
In February, team members traveled to Anaheim for MD&M West, a medical device trade show, to network and explore biomedical products that could help the team in its continued development of their pump.
"I was interested in CBUCE because of the strong team environment and all of the intricate components of the cardiovascular system," said Jessica Gordon, a biomedical engineering junior. "As a biomedical engineering student, the CBU Cardiac Engineering team became the best way to incorporate my skills and teamwork outside of the classroom environment."
The team is continuing its research and prototype modifications with its sights set on this year's Heart Hackathon, to be held in November in Japan.
Lute said the team gained valuable insights from the inaugural Heart Hackathon. The team received feedback from industry experts and an understanding about research and design that instilled a renewed energy for this year's event.
"We think the future is bright for the CBU Cardiac Engineering team," Lute said. "We see ourselves as a top competitor for the upcoming competition. While we anticipate this year's competition will be much more fierce, we are making great strides toward meeting this challenge head on."
