Watch CBS News

Future Of Cardiology Includes Your Heart In 3D

Follow CBSMIAMI.COM: Facebook | Twitter

MIAMI (CBSMiami) – The future of cardiology is here now. When a new heart device is invented, it needs to be tested on real people before going to market but a Massachusetts company has developed one-of-a-kind virtual technology when it created a 3D simulation of the human heart.

Steve Levine, an engineer at Dassault Systèmes, a French company that specializes in 3D software, launched The Living Heart Project. He was inspired by his own daughter Jesse.

"She's had four pacemaker operations since she was 2," explained Levine.

Levine's daughter was born with a rare heart defect requiring multiple surgeries and a pacemaker filled with complications.

"She's had three wires break inside her body.  So we know there is improvement that can be made in the case of the leads."

His 3D technology gives doctors and scientists a virtual view of the human heart like never before.

"What a lot of doctors' struggle with is looking at a 2D slice or representation and in their minds having to imagine the 3D manifestation, so we create that connection for them," he explained.

Doctors use 3D glasses to tour the heart, enabling them to see muscle movements, electrical impulses, and blood flow through the four chambers.

This theater-like experience and a smaller portable version will allow doctors to not only study a healthy heart but also see what happens when something goes wrong.

And one day, with EKG and MRI data, they will make custom 3D models of patients' hearts to test therapies before prescribing them.

"New devices and new innovations can be tested very rapidly and cost effectively on the computer rather than testing them on bodies and in clinical trials," said Levine.

That includes new pacemaker leads for Jesse, who is now 26 but still has challenges.

"When I think about the fact that maybe one day my daughter's life will actually be dependent on the work I am doing, it's really a profound feeling," said Levine.

The FDA has joined the project to help turn the technology into a regulatory tool for the approval of medical devices.

Dassault Systèmes has just rolled out its first commercial product and continues to work with hospitals around the country to expand and improve The Living Heart Project.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.