A QMUL and Barts Health team led by Professor Theodosios Alexander has been awarded £69k for the next phase of development of PICS, 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.

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.