Follow CBSMIAMI.COM: Facebook | Twitter

MIAMI (CBSMiami) — Scientists have created the world’s first soft artificial beating heart.

It looks like a real heart except that it’s made of silicone, according to the World Economic Forum.

If you look at the video of it, you can see it’s meant to mimic the real thing as close as possible – even maintaining a pulse.

A doctoral student named Nicholas Cohrs created it along with a group from ETH Zurich using 3D printing but it’s a work in progress.

“Our goal is to develop an artificial heart that is roughly the same size as the patient’s own one and which imitates the human heart as closely as possible in form and function,” said Cohrs.

There is still one major issue with it.

The heart only lasts about 3,000 heartbeats. That’s roughly 30 to 45 minutes.

Why?

The material can’t seem to stand the strain.

Despite that, it still shows the potential of artificial organs possibly saving lives in the future.

“A well-functioning artificial heart is a real necessity: about 26 million people worldwide suffer from heart failure while there is a shortage of donor hearts. Artificial blood pumps help to bridge the waiting time until a patient receives a donor heart or their own heart recovers,” said Cohrs.

He explained their goal wasn’t to present a heart that was ready to implant but to “think about a new direction for the development of artificial hearts.”