Digvijay Shinde

Engineering Manager, R&D | Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

A breakthrough from our lab is the thoracic-duct autotransfusion pump system, which we integrated into a first-in-human protocol to treat severe lymphatic failure in patients with advanced heart disease. By continuously draining lymph from the thoracic duct and safely returning it to the venous system, the device has already stabilized and effectively saved multiple critically ill patients who had no remaining therapeutic options.

This work, published in Circulation: Cardiovascular Interventions, demonstrates how engineering innovation can create entirely new clinical pathways and directly improve survival.