Development of a new Artificial Heart

Overview

There are approximately 64 million people around the globe affected by heart failure, but only ~7000 heart transplants performed each year. Current solutions to save these patients are limited, with clinically-available artificial hearts based on designs made decades ago which are unreliable and provide a poor quality of life for patients. There must be a better way. This project will investigate alternative pumping technologies (the heart is just a pump!) which can be adapted for the next generation of artificial hearts. The candidate will then design, prototype and test their artificial heart design concept with the chance to explore further development through ongoing research opportunities.

Research engagement

literature review, design, prototyping, lab-based evaluation, data analysis, reporting

Research activities

All project activities. Supervised by Prof Gregory.

Outcomes

The expected outcomes are the creation of a new model for an artificial heart.

Skills and experience

The student should have some background in mechanical, biomedical, or electrical engineering. Ideally the student should have experience with design, prototyping and testing devices.

Start date

18 November, 2024

End date

21 February, 2025

Location

Gardens point campus, O block

Keywords

• heart failure
• biomedical engineering
• medical
• cardiovascular

Contact

Shaun Gregory (shaun.gregory@qut.edu.au)