Igor Efimov, Ph.D., the Lucy & Stanley Lopata Distinguished Professor of Biomedical Engineering, works with Sarah Gutbrod, Ph.D. candidate in biomedical engineering in the School of Engineering & Applied Science, in Efimov’s lab in Whitaker Hall. Efimov and a team of researchers are developing a custom-fitted, implantable device that can deliver treatment or predict an impending heart attack before a patient shows any physical symptoms.

An example of the 3-D elastic membrane being developed by Efimov and his team.

This video shows a rabbit heart that has been kept beating outside of the body in a nutrient and oxygen-rich solution. The new cardiac device — a thin, stretchable membrane imprinted with a spider-web-like network of sensors and electrodes — is custom-designed to fit over the heart and contract and expand with it as it beats.

Read: 3D Printer Creates Transformative Device for Heart Treatment