A smartphone app created by students at Rice University regulates the flow of blood through the heart. The combined software-hardware interface works with an Android application to monitor and control a high-tech pump residing in the aorta.
The circulatory assist pump, called Aortix, was invented by Houston-based Procyrion, which is currently seeking approval from the Food and Drug Administration.
The students have been working at Rice’s Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen with a Procyrion prototype, a stent attached to a tiny pump. The device can be inserted into the patient’s aortic vessel to ensure that blood keeps flowing at the proper rate to the heart. Doctors are able to monitor the device’s performance and make adjustments when necessary, reducing the heart’s workload and helping it heal.
When a patient's heart is not working well, the body tends to retain fluid. Rice bioengineering student Alex Bisberg said patients will be asked to enter their weight into the app every day. The information will automatically go to the doctor’s database. If a patient gains too much weight too quickly, the app will notify the doctor. The researchers expect that the doctor will be able to adjust the pump as necessary, either remotely or by plugging directly into the external electronics.
