Unlike traditional benchtop models, which often simplify cardiac structures, UNSW’s soft robotic heart integrates the valve mechanisms critical for unidirectional blood flow. The mitral valve, modeled as a pair of swinging doors, prevents backward leakage of blood—a function essential for maintaining cardiac efficiency. By incorporating artificial musculature controlled hydraulically, the device mimics the heart’s contraction and twisting, producing motion patterns indistinguishable from actual cardiac function. This nuanced replication enables researchers to simulate pathological states, such as mitral valve prolapse and regurgitation, where valve dysfunction leads to compromised blood flow and heightened risk of heart failure.

Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) remains an enigmatic and devastating condition, constituting about 50% of all heart failure cases. Characterized by the heart’s reduced capacity to relax and fill properly despite maintained pumping function, HFpEF often coexists with systemic comorbidities like hypertension and diabetes. The UNSW soft robotic model can simulate the hallmark features of HFpEF, including the delayed ventricular filling and increased intracardiac pressures observed in patients. This capability provides clinicians and researchers a powerful tool to investigate HFpEF mechanisms and explore novel therapeutic strategies tailored to this complex syndrome.

The engineering breakthrough underpinning this model lies in its use of flexible silicone membranes and layered soft robotic artificial muscles arranged to replicate the heart’s natural muscle fiber architecture. These hydraulic artificial muscles receive precisely regulated pressure inputs to contract and relax in coordination, enabling the ventricular walls to deform and twist as in a genuine heartbeat. The inner membranes form the heart’s chambers and contain simulated blood, allowing for realistic pumping dynamics with in-and-out flow paths. This biomimetic design elevates the fidelity of cardiac simulations far beyond previous mechanical analogues.

One particularly groundbreaking aspect is the system’s adjustable artificial papillary muscles, which support and regulate the mitral valve. By altering the tension in these muscles, the researchers can precisely recreate valve malfunctions and study their impacts on cardiac mechanics and blood flow. This mechanistic insight is vital, as valve pathologies are a common contributor to heart failure progression. The ability to tune valve behavior in a controlled setting allows device developers to test prosthetics and surgical interventions more effectively before transitioning to animal models or clinical trials.

Validation of the synthetic heart involved extensive testing using ultrasound imaging and invasive measurements of pressure and flow to compare its performance against physiological benchmarks. The results were striking—the artificial heart produced realistic waveforms of pressure and blood flow characteristic of healthy and diseased states alike. Moreover, the model’s compatibility with non-invasive clinical techniques such as echocardiography underscores its potential as a translational research tool, bridging laboratory experiments and patient care.

Beyond modeling disease mechanics, the platform serves as a testing ground for emergent cardiovascular technologies. Demonstrating this, the UNSW team evaluated a novel soft robotic cardiac catheter within the beating model. The catheter could navigate precisely inside the artificial heart, sensing contact with moving anatomic structures. This demonstrated the system’s utility for iterative design and validation of surgical devices, potentially accelerating innovation in minimally invasive cardiac therapies with improved safety profiles.

Ethical concerns and high costs have long hampered preclinical testing relying on animal models, limiting throughput and translational efficiency. The synthetic heart’s controllable and reproducible environment offers a humane and cost-effective alternative for early-stage device evaluation. By faithfully reproducing specific disease phenotypes, such as HFpEF, the technology could reduce dependence on animal testing, accelerating development timelines while preserving scientific rigor.

Looking forward, the researchers envision personalizing these soft robotic hearts using patient-derived medical imaging data. Such bespoke models could inform clinical decision-making by enabling surgeons to trial different interventions in a risk-free setting tailored to each patient’s unique cardiac anatomy and physiology. This aligns perfectly with the burgeoning field of precision medicine, where treatments are customized for maximal efficacy and safety.

While this soft robotic heart represents a significant technological milestone, the team acknowledges that it remains a proof-of-concept rather than a fully clinical device. Future iterations will aim to integrate more sophisticated materials, refine control systems for enhanced realism, and incorporate patient-specific geometric complexities. The crucial next step involves comprehensive validation against a broad spectrum of clinical data to establish the model’s predictive accuracy across diverse cardiac conditions and anatomies.

The integration of expertise from biomedical engineering and clinical cardiology, including collaboration with leading clinicians, underscores the translational potential of this technology. The resulting platform offers a versatile, high-fidelity testbed for advancing cardiovascular research, improving device safety, and ultimately improving patient outcomes. As soft robotics and bioengineering converge, the dream of a truly functional artificial heart model that serves as a clinical decision and treatment tool moves closer to reality.

In conclusion, UNSW’s soft robotic heart blends innovation in materials science, robotics, and clinical insights to create a biomimetic device capable of simulating complex cardiac physiology and pathology with unprecedented accuracy. By enabling detailed study of valve mechanics, heart muscle dynamics, and disease progression, it stands to revolutionize cardiovascular research. More importantly, it paves the way for personalized treatment approaches that could substantially reduce the burden of cardiovascular disease globally, offering new hope to millions suffering from heart failure.

Subject of Research: Not applicable

Article Title: Compliance modulation of a soft robotic atrioventricular model of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction

News Publication Date: 1-Jun-2026

Web References:

• Nature Communications article: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-73791-w
• Advanced Science article: https://advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/advs.75382

References:

• UNSW Medical Robotics Lab
• UNSW School of Biomedical Engineering

Image Credits: UNSW/Richard Freeman

Keywords

Cardiovascular disorders, Bioengineering, Biomedical engineering, Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), Soft robotic heart, Mitral valve disease, Cardiac biomechanics, Medical device development, Patient-specific models, Soft robotics, Cardiovascular research

Heart failure remains one of the foremost cardiovascular challenges globally, afflicting an estimated 64 million people. In Singapore alone, it accounts for approximately 17% of cardiac hospital admissions. HFpEF, distinguished by a stiffened myocardium that impairs the heart’s ability to relax and fill properly despite normal ejection fraction, presents a particularly vexing clinical puzzle. The disease’s rising incidence, driven by aging populations coupled with the global surge in diabetes and hypertension, has outpaced the availability of effective therapies, underscoring an urgent need for innovative treatment strategies.

Brano Therapeutics’ inception roots deeply in rigorous scientific inquiry led by researchers at Duke-NUS Medical School, in collaboration with international partners including the University of Cincinnati. Their collective research focused on deciphering the metabolic abnormalities that underpin HFpEF pathology. By meticulously analyzing patient blood samples, the team uncovered a disrupted nutrient processing pathway intrinsic to poorer clinical outcomes, revealing how metabolic derangements contribute to the progression of cardiac dysfunction and exacerbation of symptoms in affected patients.

Advancing these insights from bench to bedside, Brano’s research demonstrated that restoring this vital metabolic pathway significantly ameliorated cardiac stiffness and enhanced heart function in preclinical models. The innovative compound developed by the startup acts to recalibrate the heart’s metabolic inefficiency, reducing toxic metabolite buildup and restoring cellular homeostasis. This therapeutic approach diverges from conventional methods by targeting the underlying metabolic drivers of heart failure rather than merely symptom management.

The recent capital infusion, led by Trinity Innovation Bioventure Singapore and SEEDS, affirms the burgeoning confidence in Brano’s scientific foundation and translational potential. It represents a critical investment milestone not only in the company’s trajectory but also in Singapore’s bioscience ecosystem, highlighting the powerful synergies attainable through academic-industry partnerships. Duke-NUS’ LIVE Ventures program also contributes significantly to this funding round, marking its first direct equity investment in a startup emerging from the institution’s translational pipeline.

Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction challenges the norms of cardiovascular treatment due to its multifaceted etiology involving myocardial stiffness, systemic inflammation, and altered metabolic states. Conventional pharmaceutical interventions have often yielded disappointing outcomes, prompting a paradigm shift toward novel modalities. Brano’s metabolic-centric therapeutic pipeline exemplifies this strategic shift, leveraging molecular biology and metabolic physiology advances to redefine heart failure management.

The scientific rationale underpinning Brano’s therapeutic candidates is compelling: by targeting metabolic dysfunction, they aim to restore energy homeostasis and attenuate pathological cardiac remodeling. This approach could potentially reverse the progression of HFpEF, improving patients’ quality of life and reducing the burden on healthcare systems worldwide. Importantly, this strategy is grounded in robust data from both human biomarker studies and preclinical pharmacological testing, providing a solid framework for subsequent clinical evaluation.

Looking forward, Brano Therapeutics aims to expedite the translation of their lead compounds into clinical trials by 2029. This timeline reflects not only the rigorous safety and efficacy requirements inherent to drug development but also the company’s commitment to advancing a new therapeutic paradigm that could redefine standard care protocols for millions afflicted by heart failure globally.

The strategic investments and collaborations driving Brano’s progress underscore the vital role that interdisciplinary partnerships play in accelerating medical innovation. By integrating expertise across cardiology, metabolic biology, pharmacology, and venture capital, Brano exemplifies a modern approach to biotechnology—one that bridges cutting-edge research with patient-centered innovation.

Executives from key investment partners have expressed strong optimism about Brano’s potential to catalyze transformative change within the cardiovascular therapeutic domain. They highlight the company’s blend of world-class scientific talent, rigorous translational strategies, and disciplined operational execution as critical factors positioning it for success within the increasingly competitive global biotech landscape.

Duke-NUS Medical School continues to emphasize its commitment to nurturing translational research aimed at meaningful clinical impact. Through programs like LIVE Ventures, the institution is actively fostering an ecosystem that bridges discovery to commercialization, ensuring that promising scientific breakthroughs evolve into accessible therapies that address unmet medical needs.

In the context of escalating global cardiovascular health challenges, Brano Therapeutics’ pioneering approach to metabolic modulation offers a beacon of hope. Should their therapies prove successful, they have the potential to alleviate the burden of HFpEF—a condition historically marred by therapeutic stagnation—and markedly improve clinical outcomes, heralding a new era in cardiovascular medicine.

Subject of Research: People
Article Title: Not specified
News Publication Date: 6 May 2026
Web References: Brano Therapeutics Website, Duke-NUS Medical School
References:

1. Savarese et al., “Global burden of heart failure: a comprehensive and updated review of epidemiology.” Cardiovascular Research, 2022
2. Chan et al., “Transitional care to reduce heart failure readmission rates in South East Asia.” Cardiac Failure Review, 2016
   Image Credits: Liu Yunxia, Duke-NUS Medical School
   Keywords: Heart Failure, HFpEF, Metabolic Dysfunction, Cardiovascular Disease, Biotech Innovation, Duke-NUS, Translational Research, Seed Funding, Biopharmaceutical Development, Metabolic Therapy