The Use of Reanimated Human and Other Large Mammalian Hearts as Means to Enhance the Design and Testing of Cardiac Devices

The Visible Heart® Project is an ex vivo perfused, beating heart model for studying cardiac anatomy, physiology, and devices; large mammalian hearts, including human hearts, are perfused with a clear perfusate so endoscopic cameras can be inserted into the chambers to view the functional anatomy and deployed devices. Videos and images collected of reanimated human hearts are uploaded to the free, online-access “Atlas of Human Cardiac Anatomy” as an educational tool for scientists, industry professionals, students, and the public. Using an isolated heart for medical device development research fills a gap between anatomical benchtop models and preclinical animal experiments. The Visible Heart® has been used to test various cardiac medical devices, such as pacemakers, artificial valves, ablation catheters, and coronary stents. Furthermore, practicing physicians have used the direct visualization capabilities of the Visible Heart® to study procedural techniques to aid in developing therapeutic recommendations. Novel tools for researching, documenting, and understanding human hearts, such as the Visible Heart® Mobile apparatus, three-dimensional (3D) object scanners, and virtual reality apps, continue to be developed in the lab to enhance cardiac education and the development of the next generation of cardiac medical devices.