Seraina Dual receives Council funding for animal-free testing of artificial hearts
KTH assistant professor Seraina Anne Dual is awarded 2,25 million crowns from the Swedish Research Council for her project CardioLoop: A flexible hybrid mock loop to reduce animal use for testing cardiovascular technologies.
“I feel satisfied as this grant recognizes our work in animal-free testing of mechanical assist devices and artificial hearts,” Dual says.
She is excited to start collaborating with David Marlevi from Karolinska Institute, realizing a plan that they have had for many years. In the project, they will advance test rigs that allow for patient-specific testing in combination magnetic resonance imaging of 4-dimensional flow fields. In contrast to other systems, Dual explains, they can test medical devices in dynamic interaction with the human cardiovascular system.
“This allows us to simulate not only average conditions but tune to patient-specific parameters and simulate sleep or exercise. In this way, we become a realistic alternative to animal trials.”
Providing a technological alternative
According to Dual, large animal testing is currently state-of-the art for testing implantable cardiovascular technologies before their use in humans. Especially during pre-clinical development such testing is extensive and thus ethically questionable.
“We fill this gap by providing a technological alternative, which will in the future be even closer to the real patient,” Dual says.
Going forward, the research team hope to improve the test rig to accommodate more technologies, extend its use for testing within magnetic resonance imaging, and inspire others to create similar systems. They are recruiting a research engineer to build an MRI compatible loop. Soon, the team will start testing the protocol for an international comparative study.
“I would like to express my gratitude for VR to provide specialized funding for the 3R initiative, as this emphasizes ethically responsible use of animal experiments for advancing medical products that provide the treatments of tomorrow,” Dual says.
Jon Lindhe ( jlindhe@kth.se )