A new customizable robotic heart sleeve has demonstrated potential when it comes to aiding the beating of a failing heart, according to the Harvard University and Boston Children’s Hospital researchers who developed it.

The researchers claim that the soft robot has advantages over the heart assist devices such as VADs that are out there because the sleeve never directly comes in contact with blood. That means that there is no risk of blood clotting, or the need for those with the sleeve implanted in them to take blood thinner medications.

“The cardiac field had turned away from idea of developing heart compression instead of blood-pumping VADs due to technological limitations, but now with advancements in soft robotics it’s time to turn back,” Frank Pigula, a cardiothoracic surgeon who was co-corresponding author on the study, said in a Harvard news release.

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