Computing Models to Engineer Safer Artificial Hearts and Lungs

Artificial hearts and lungs are life-sustaining medical devices that temporarily or permanently take over the function of a failing heart or lung, ensuring that oxygen continues to reach vital organs.

The artificial medical devices pump or oxygenate blood outside the body through complex networks of chambers and membranes. However, patients who depend on them face a difficult trade-off: while the devices keep them alive, the high-speed, swirling blood flows inside can expose red blood cells and platelets to abnormal mechanical stresses. These stresses may rupture cells, trigger inflammation, or activate clotting pathways that increase the risk of thrombosis or bleeding complications. As a result, even small design imperfections in flow pathways can have serious clinical consequences. To truly improve patient outcomes, it is essential to develop devices that provide effective circulation and gas exchange while preserving the structural and functional integrity of blood elements—that is, devices that heal without harm.

Enhancing Artificial Heart and Lung Devices

To solve this, Ge He, PhD, uses a “twin” approach that combines computer simulations with real-world lab tests. First, the team—comprising of Professor He, his supervised students, and collaborators from the University of Maryland School of Medicine—builds detailed computer models to predict how blood would move through an artificial heart or artificial lung—where it speeds up, slows down, or gets stuck. Then matching lab experiments are done based on the computing models with tubing loops that circulate blood under hospital-like conditions to validate the model predictions. When the lab results align with the computing models, it provides confidence that the prediction is reliable for decision-making.

The team, however, does not solely rely on computational models; all findings are verified with experiments designed to replicate real-world conditions. If results differ from the model, the team further examines the predictions and models to identify the cause. This process strengthens the evidence-based predictions without over-promising what the model can do.

The payoff is practical. Model-driven insights point manufacturers to specific improvements—smoother flow paths, gentler transitions, more stable operating ranges—that lab validation confirms can lower the chance of blood damage while keeping the device strong and efficient. It’s also a powerful training ground: students learn both how to build trustworthy models and how to validate them with rigorous experiments.

Next Steps

Looking ahead, Ge He aims to continue combining experimental testing with computational modeling to reduce device-induced blood damage and improve patients’ quality of life. The research will focus on running targeted lab studies to confirm model predictions, refining artificial heart and lung designs with industry partners, and developing clear, evidence-based guidelines for engineers and clinicians. By strengthening the connection between models and measurements, Ge He aims to accelerate the path from research insight to safer, more reliable devices used at the bedside.

“Our goal is simple,” Ge He said, “Artificial hearts and lungs should not only keep patients alive but not harm their blood—every validated result moves us closer to that.”

“Artificial hearts and lungs should not only keep patients alive but not harm their blood—every validated result moves us closer to that.”

– Ge He

Ge He is an assistant professor of biomedical engineering at Lawrence Technological University’s College of Engineering. He received his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Xihua University in Chengdu, China, in 2013, and his master’s and PhD degrees in engineering mechanics and mechanical engineering from Harbin Institute of Technology in Harbin, China, and Mississippi State University in 2015 and 2019. He then worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Maryland School of Medicine to develop pediatric pump-lung systems for patients with heart and lung diseases or failures.