Inspired by rockets, he invented a heart! It will be a world first: Battery-free artificial heart pump will be invented with the "HeartWise" project...
The project, which Prof. Dr. Kerem Pekkan from the Faculty of Engineering and his team have been working on for 5 years, aims to eliminate all difficulties related to artificial heart pumps used today.
Prof. Dr. Pekkan earned Türkiye its first European Innovation Council (EIC) grant with his motorless, battery-free artificial heart pump project, which he developed with his team, inspired by the working principle of liquid-fueled rockets.
This year, 413 projects were eligible to apply for EIC Transition support. Of the 80 projects that passed the second stage, 40 were funded. Three of the 40 selected projects were announced as outstanding projects. HeartWise was one of these three projects. Prof. Dr. Pekkan and his team, who won a 2.5 million Euro grant from the EIC with the HeartWise project, will achieve a world first with their newly developed artificial heart pump.
Prof. Dr. Pekkan said that thanks to the artificial heart pump that can be printed specifically for the patient from a 3D printer, patients will no longer have to live with cables and battery cases weighing many kilos, and noted that thanks to 'HeartWise', the cost of the artificial heart pump will drop to one tenth, and more patients will have access to this treatment.
Prof. Dr. Pekkan said that the artificial heart pump, which can be produced specifically for a person, can pump blood without needing a motor and explained its mechanism as follows: "It receives its mechanical energy entirely from the left side of the heart (which is healthy) or from another artificial heart pump attached to the left heart inside, if any. There is a turbine, just like in dams. We transfer the energy coming out of there to the right side and give the patient the energy needed for blood circulation. That's why we had the chance to make the price very cheap. We think we can reduce it to around 5 to 10 thousand Euros. Most importantly, we can also print the device with a 3D printer; because there is no motor. It can be printed with a metal printer, for example titanium. Being specific to the patient, all the vein lengths, diameters, the length of the pump, the amount of flow it will press, allows us to make it suitable for that patient's hemodynamics, height and weight. Current products cannot provide this because they all need motors and control units. In addition, since we receive the energy entirely from the body, it is an environmentally friendly device, and there is no need for batteries."
Prof. Dr. Kerem Pekkan, who worked at ROKETSAN during his education in Mechanical Engineering at METU and then went to the United States and took part in various projects developed for NASA while continuing his research at Purdue University, decided to continue his career in the field of Biomedical Engineering. Prof. Dr. Pekkan worked as a research instructor on cardiovascular engineering and blood fluid mechanics for a long time at the Georgia Institute of Technology, School of Biomedical Engineering in the USA, which is number one in this field in the world. Pekkan, who especially aims to make his mark on biomedical innovations in the field of pediatric cardiovascular diseases, also took part in the world's best heart pump design team in Pittsburg, USA. Returning to Türkiye in 2012 and continuing his career at Koç University Faculty of Engineering, Prof. Dr. Kerem Pekkan implemented the world's first artificial heart pump project in collaboration with physicians and scientists at important centers such as Medipol University, Erasmus Medical Center, Hacettepe Faculty of Medicine, and Istanbul Mehmet Akif Ersoy Chest, Cardiovascular Surgery Training and Research Hospital. Prof. Dr. Pekkan said, "Our prototypes are ready now. We will complete the animal tests and when the project is completed in 3 years, we plan to immediately start using it on the first patient."
Prof. Dr. Pekkan, who noted that artificial heart pumps, also known as mechanical circulatory support devices, can currently only be used for the left heart (left atrium and ventricle in the heart), said, “There are support devices especially for the left heart in the clinic, these are in the form of mechanical pumps. We do not have devices used for right heart (right atrium and right ventricle in the heart) failure. However, our doctors are trying to use these left heart devices on the right heart. The biggest problem of all the existing devices is infection because they require a motor. Therefore, cables are required. They come out of the patient and their prices are very high. A good type of heart pump is around 120 thousand Euros. It is used in patients with advanced heart failure or those who need a heart transplant, or pumps are made to be worn permanently. I received training in a laboratory in America that specializes in heart valves, where all heart valves in the world are tested. I worked in the famous Pittsburgh heart pump design team for 6-7 years. These devices are very expensive, one reason for this is that they have electric motors. This kind of heart pump without a motor will be the first in the world. There is no other like it.
Prof. Dr. also noted that a great team including doctoral students Tansu Gölcez, Canberk Yıldırım and Kağan Uçak worked on the project. Pekkan said, "There is a commercialization team consisting of our students, they are an entrepreneurial team. Our research team, our doctors, everyone is working to develop this device by putting their hands under the stone. Reaching patients is 2 percent. 2 out of a hundred patients will have access to that device. The reason for this being low is that the device is very complicated. A simple device will increase access to it. Koç University has great support, our laboratory is here as well; but in addition to this, TÜSEB President Prof. Dr. Ümit Kervan, and also TÜBİTAK attaches great importance to this EIC project. In addition, our intensive care specialist Assoc. Prof. Dr. Yahya Yıldız from the Department of Anesthesia and Reanimation at Medipol University wholeheartedly supports our experiments. The other partners of the project are Erasmus Faculty of Medicine in Ireland and the Netherlands, and we have doctors there as well. We have been meeting every week for 5 years and have published articles. We were invited to device congresses in Europe, we showed ourselves in this way, we passed the first stage of the project and our project received the EIC grant. Then we were left with 40 projects and we got the project as one of 20 of them. Countries like the European Union (EU), America and Australia are trying to have a say in this market and are developing new devices. Very large financial supports are provided for the studies there. Because patients are really in a very difficult situation. Of course, we earned 2.5 million Euros, although it seems like a very large figure, 40-50 million dollars are needed for these devices to reach the patient. We have taken an important step, this is the first step and everyone's support is very important," he said.
Prof. Dr. Pekkan, who noted that the animal experiments will be completed in the first stage of the HeartWise project, whose prototypes are currently ready, also pointed out that they first discovered this invention together with Prof. Dr. Rıza Türköz for pediatric heart patients, and said, "When the project is finished, in about 3 years, the first patient will be used immediately afterwards. First of all, we will be able to both provide patients with a better quality of organ transplant waiting period and extend that period. Since there are no cables, there will be no infection, they will not have to carry heavy bags. There is no stress of charging batteries. The devices currently used are very critical, they have to have backups from every system. Not being psychologically dependent on the battery will also give patients a sense of security. I can also say that we are solving all the problems with the heart pump with this project."
(DHA) This content was published by Sedef Karatay
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