Engineering Biohybrid Hearts | Ellen Roche | TEDxMIT Salon

Can we engineer hearts using organic tissue and replacing or augmenting the model with robotic muscle that is tunable, durable, controllable and adaptive depending on need? Can this replace heart transplants? Can we power this heart through the skin so patients don't have to be connected to an external battery? Ellen Roche is currently an Associate Professor (Latham Family Professor) at the Institute for Medical Engineering and Science and the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She directs the Therapeutic Technology Design and Development Lab. She completed her PhD at Harvard University School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Her research focuses on applying innovative technologies to the development of cardiac devices. Her research includes development of novel devices to repair or augment cardiac function using disruptive approaches such as soft robotics, combination of mechanical actuation with delivery of cell therapy, and use of light activated biodegradable adhesives. Dr. Roche was employed in the medical device industry for over five years as a research and development engineer and employs her understanding of the medical device industry and the regulatory pathways to medical device commercialization in her academic research. She is the recipient of multiple awards including the Fulbright International Science and Technology Award, the Wellcome Trust Seed Award in Science, an American Heart Association Pre-Doctoral Award, a National Science Foundation CAREER Award, an NIH Trailblazer Award and a Charles H. Hood Award for Excellence in Child Health Research. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx