BME Summer Immersion 2018: Week 3: A Pig Heart and an Open Heart

The last time I had seen an actual heart was probably in high school… until this week!

This week, I started my research project at the DALIO Institute at Rockefeller University on a part of the heart that I didn’t even know existed: the Left Atrial Appendage (LAA). The LAA is a small sac-like chamber on the left atrium that is useless after development (essentially the appendix of the heart). However, in patients with atrial fibrillation (abnormal rhythm of the atrium), clots can form in the LAA and be discharged into the bloodstream to cause a stroke. A device called a Watchman can be inserted into the LAA to occlude the opening and prevent clots from being thrown into the bloodstream, but (1) it is not the ideal geometry to fit the LAA and (2) no in vitro test system for LAA occlusion devices has been developed so far. For the next 5 weeks, I will be working with a Cornell BME undergrad to develop a 3D printable tissue-like model of the LAA for testing occlusion devices, with possible future applications of making a customizable printed occlusion device to fit the space more appropriately. This week, we started to get on our feet using the 3D printer and dissected a pig heart to examine the tissue properties that we will recapitulate with our model.

Earlier this week, I got to see what I was most excited for during Immersion: an open heart surgery! The surgery was to replace an aortic valve and part of the aorta, and to repair the tricuspid valve. This was my first time in an OR and to see a real human heart, and I absolutely loved it! The OR team (especially the technicians and anesthesiology) were extremely nice and helpful before and during the surgery, and explained all of the different machines that they use during the procedure. For example, while repairing the heart, the blood must be pumped through a perfusion machine to oxygenate the blood for the body, while the heart and vasculature directly around it are bypassed. I found it fascinating to see how all of the blood was coming out of the body and passing through the machine, although WOW is it a lot of blood! Through some of the procedure, I was able to stand on a stool right over the patient’s head to get an incredible view of what the surgeons were doing, but was a little bit shocked at the smell of an open patient. I was a little bit worried about being able to handle the smell and the sight of so much blood, but it was not nearly as bad as I was expecting! On the one hand, though, it did make me grateful that I do research for a living instead of surgeries. 😊

Scrubbing in for my first surgery!

On the fun side of NYC, adventuring this week took me to a few museums (the Whitney Museum, Houdini Museum, and American Museum of Natural History), and the highlight foods of the week were S’MAC (different flavors of Mac n’ Cheese) and Hotel Tortuga (giant and delicious burritos for a great price).