Soft robotic VAD concept. Soft robotic VAD concept. (A) Section view illustration showing the soft robotic device principle of operation on the right side of the heart in diastole (left) and systole (right; outermost central actuator is removed here for illustrative purposes). (B) Photograph of the soft robotic device during in vivo operation on the RV in diastole (the red object is the standard surgical tourniquet used to tension the purse string suture that retains the sealing ring in the ventricle wall). (C) Photograph of the device on the RV in systole. (D) Annotated photograph of the device implementation for the RV. Christopher J. Payne et al. Sci. Robotics 2017;2:eaan6736 Copyright © 2017 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works