KITSW plays role in design, development of low cost Artificial Heart project

As a part of this, KITSW set up a laboratory with Rs 70 Lakhs in the department of Mechanical Engineering, and 3D printing machines worth Rs 30 lakhs were purchased to perform prototypes of centrifugal heart pumps, and simulation models

Warangal: Prof Pesaru Sudhakar Reddy of University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) has appreciated the Center of Excellence, Indo-American Artificial Heart Programme team of KITSW for being involved in fabrication of motor and Centrifugal pump -critical components.

As the Center of Excellence, KITS, Warangal, organised a one-day international interactive session on “Indo-American Artificial Heart Programme” here on Thursday, Sudhakar Reddy visited the campus and had an interaction with the researchers involved in this path breaking project.

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Indo-American Artificial Heart Project (IAAHP) has been started in the year 2016 headed by Dr Sudhakar Reddy. Prestigious engineering schools of this region, like BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus, CBIT, Hyderabad, SNIST, Hyderabad and KITS, Warangal are working towards design and development of a low cost Artificial Heart for its usage in India.

As a part of this, KITSW set up a laboratory with Rs 70 Lakhs in the department of Mechanical Engineering, and 3D printing machines worth Rs 30 lakhs were purchased to perform prototypes of centrifugal heart pumps, and simulation models.

Principal Prof K Ashoka Reddy said that they had applied for patent on the IAAHP project and published five research papers in reputed international journals. He further advised the faculty to perform research in the latest research areas pertaining to biomedical engineering. Five faculty members led Dr K Eswaraiah, Professor, Team Leader of IAAHP, KITSW, are working on the project.

According to the researchers, the condition of patients with heart failure often declines even with optimal medical treatment as heart transplantation was traditionally the preferred treatment of such patients. The lack of donor organs motivated the development of the Total Artificial Heart (TAH) in the early 60s and development continues to this day. Early artificial hearts such as the pulsatile devices imitates the natural hearts action but yielded poor results due to their large size, invasiveness, complexity, and need for extracorporeal support connections. In view of this, an attempt is being made to design, manufacture and market an TAH with low cost and higher efficiency for the developing countries like India.