School of Engineering and Materials Science News

NIHR awards £900k for the development of TURBOCARDIA

A QMUL and Barts Health team led by Professor Theodosios Alexander has been awarded about £900k for the development of TURBOCARDIA, a novel mechanical circulatory support device. The device is one of two such separate devices that the QMUL team is developing in collaboration with Professor Rothman of Barts Health. The funding will be spent in its entirety in SEMS.

Congestive Heart Failure is the leading cause of death in the Western world. Donor hearts meet only 5% of the demand. This creates the need for the development of mechanical circulatory support devices. Most of these on the market are attached to the apex of the left ventricle of the heart, requiring very invasive surgery and cardiopulmonary bypass during the operation. The team is developing two distinct devices, addressing different patient populations and with different specifications, that can be installed without cardiopulmonary bypass and via minimally invasive surgery.

News date: 30 May 2012
Contact: Prof T Alexander
Tel: 5301
Email: t.alexander@qmul.ac.uk

Updated by: Jayne Hawkins