No two people have the same heartbeat. The size and shape of the heart may vary from person to person, especially for patients with heart disease. The MIT engineer team has developed a program that can 3D print a patient's soft and flexible heart replica and control its pumping action to simulate the patient's pumping ability. In this way, they hope to help doctors customize the treatment plan according to the specific heart shape and function of patients. The research team reported the results in a study in the journal Science · Robotics on the 22nd. The researchers first converted the medical image of the patient's heart into a 3D computer model, and then used polymer based ink for 3D printing. The result was a soft and flexible shell, which was exactly the same shape as the patient's own heart. The research team could also use this method to print the patient's aorta. In order to simulate the blood pumping action of the heart, the team made a cuff similar to the blood pressure cuff to wrap the printed heart and aorta. The bottom of each "sleeve" is similar to a bubble film with a precise pattern. When the "sleeve" is connected to the pneumatic system, researchers can adjust the outflow of air, rhythmically expand the bubbles in the sleeve and contract the heart, simulating its pumping action. The research team also inflated a separate sleeve around the aorta. They said that this contraction could be adjusted to simulate aortic stenosis. Doctors usually treat aortic stenosis by surgical implantation of artificial valves, which can expand the natural valve of the aorta. The team said that in the future, doctors may use their new program to print the patient's heart and aorta first, and then implant various valves in the printed model to see which design can produce the best function and is suitable for specific patients. Cardiac replicas can also be used by laboratories and the medical device industry as a realistic platform for testing various types of therapeutic methods. Researchers said that everyone's heart is different. The advantage of the new system is that it can not only reconstruct the shape of the patient's heart, but also reconstruct its function in physiology and disease. [Editor in Chief Circle] 3D printing has been used in the medical field for a long time. A common application scenario is to use 3D printing technology to copy human parts or organs such as teeth and bones for medical training and research. Of course, it can also accurately 3D model and print a patient's organ to help doctors make research judgment and preparation before surgery. However, it is rare to be able to replicate human organs and simulate the operation of these organs. The latest research not only replicates the soft and flexible heart, but also allows this "fake heart" to simulate the blood pumping action, fully demonstrating that the application of 3D printing technology in the medical field is increasingly in-depth, accurate and high-end. (Xinhua News Agency)