Cardiac problems caused by birth defects are a major source of infant deaths worldwide. Since there are not enough heart donors, the situation is pitiful. While researchers have been working on repairing congenital heart disorders, most solutions have given rise to more problems and challenges.

The latest offering from researchers at Harvard University and Boston Children’s Hospital is an air powered robot. The soft robot has been designed to help keep an ailing heart beating. It has not yet been tested on humans but the device has shown improved blood flow in animals on which it was used.

It consists of artificial muscles encased in a silicone sleeve that is placed just outside the heart. The device compresses and relaxes just like the heart tissue that it is placed over. It helps in regulating the heart beats and since it is outside the heart, there is no contact with blood.

The prototype even allows the robot to pick if the left or right heart ventricle needs to be compressed to facilitate blood flow through it. Best of all this science project does not need anti- clogging drugs to work effectively. Human trials are some time away, but they will be producing a technology that would aid millions of humans worldwide.