Under certain circumstances, patients with advanced heart failure require mechanical heart assist devices to alleviate symptoms, improve end-organ performance and to save lives. The Heart Failure Research lab has a range of studies related to the development of better types of heart pumps, improving the management of patients with heart pumps and enhancing native cardiac function.
Heart pump development and use
In collaboration with engineers from QUT and the preclinical translational platform at the Baker Institute, we are contributing to the development of a novel heart pump for use in Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction patients. Prof David Kaye, together with his collaborator, Prof Shaun Gregory and a national team of experts were awarded a $50M MRFF grant for the work. In association, we are working on the use of cardiac device technologies and drugs to improve outcomes in patients with cardiac arrest. We developed preclinical models of cardiac arrest to study this question and have translated aspects into clinical trials.
Enhancing native heart function in patients with cardiac devices
Whilst current cardiac devices can replace the majority of the heart's own function, it is an advantage (where possible) to retain and improve native heart performance. In some cases, the native heart can even return to such a point where the pump can be removed. We are studing the molecular nature of the heart as it responds to assistance from heart pumps by collecting blood samples released from the heart muscle. By doing this, we have identified significant alterations in key metabolic pathways within the heart that might be candidates for therapy in the future, following further studies underway in the lab.