Wetenschap

Silicon heart beats like a drum

Delft researchers and colleagues from Leiden University Medical Center, Erasmus MC and Ghent University made a 3D printed silicon heart to examine blood flow.

The three-dimensional flow structures within a heart chamber with biological valves are measured at various time instants. (Photo: Sasa Kenjeres)

Joint collaboration between the Dutch and Belgian scientists enabled the making of a full four-dimensional optical reconstruction of the flow patterns in a transparent model of part of a human heart that uses biological valves for the very first time. The researchers published their findings this week in the Journal of Biomechanics