Building an interdisciplinary program of cardiovascular research at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology– the ETHeart story

Abstract

In this backstory, researchers from Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich) who initiated an interdisciplinary program to generate innovative solutions for different cardiovascular diseases, such as myocardial infarction, valvular replacement, and movement-based rehabilitation therapy, discuss the benefits and challenges of interdisciplinary research. In this backstory, researchers from Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich) who initiated an interdisciplinary program to generate innovative solutions for different cardiovascular diseases, such as myocardial infarction, valvular replacement, and movement-based rehabilitation therapy, discuss the benefits and challenges of interdisciplinary research. Working directly with medical professionals always reminds me of the fact that I am not working only on the technologies themselves, but also that my solutions could one day be implanted into another human being.For interdisciplinary collaborations, it is essential to break with hierarchies independent of the academic status of the collaborators.During patent protection of interdisciplinary medical technologies, it is virtually impossible for one person to cover all the involved aspects.New strategies to enable the safe reproducibility and comparability of machine learning research on highly sensitive medical information could be of high value for both the medical and the machine learning communities.Main textCardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of terminal illness worldwide. Aging population, improper nutrition, and sedentary but stressful lifestyle combined with poor prevention, malignant infections, and high risk-factors (like smoking and obesity) render CVD a leading threat to human health. Life-long treatment, diminished quality of life, repeated hospitalizations, and only short periods of stable health, mark the lives of patients suffering from CVD. In front of this challenge, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich) initiated an interdisciplinary program to generate innovative solutions for different CVDs, such as myocardial infarction, valvular replacement, and movement-based rehabilitation therapy.Mr. Mayer (not his real name) is a 59-year-old former lightweight boxing champion. His nose is crooked; his eyes are blurry but attentive. As he sits propped up in his hospital bed, he exchanges a couple of sentences with the nurse changing his catheter tube. Yet, for more than that, he runs out of strength. After decades of living life on the edge inside and outside the ring, Mr. Mayer’s heart is failing him. Without a heart transplant, this route has only one destination and the only thing standing between him and the last bell is the small pump implanted within his heart. This machine is what keeps him alive. For now…. Although Mr. Mayer is an imaginary person, our program focuses on improving the lives of patients like him. And what better way to pursue this goal than combining our strengths with cutting-edge science to help patients experience a better quality of life.How: Conception and evolution through the yearsFrom Zurich Heart to ETHeartImaginary, yet typical end-stage heart failure patient relying on an implanted Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD) to maintain the necessary blood flow through the body. Illustration created by PaykoView Large Image Figure ViewerDownload Hi-res image Download (PPT)Founders of the programWho were the players in this project, and of medical that are to in the human is a that is by a medical a is from an of as to what be from a of solutions in the of a such as the human a between and to and in a only and that the This only is also for a Zurich Heart such a it from the to to an to the of After patients in the and with a of the and of the a of to of the challenges but not to and of pump and the of and technologies were into the but also such as a pump were the of out of I to I also with from the in the the and the for in on and of cardiovascul