𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 “𝐝𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥” 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝒅𝒊𝒈𝒊𝒕 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫: 100 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐢𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭

100 years ago, in 1925, surgeon 𝐇. 𝐒. 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐫 published a remarkable paper titled “𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘶𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘛𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘔𝘪𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘴.”

At a time when surgeons barely dared to touch the heart, Souttar quite literally did just that.

What’s striking is not only the bravery of the procedure, but the way the heart was already being understood as a 𝐦𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦.

Long before imaging, pressure catheters, or computational models, Souttar described how the mechanics of stenosis and regurgitation could be 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭.

By inserting a finger into the beating heart through the auricular appendage, he gained insights no murmur or auscultation could provide.

When his finger briefly blocked the stenosed mitral orifice, blood pressure fell to zero: a direct, visceral demonstration of flow obstruction.

That moment made something clear to him:

“𝘛𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘢 𝘮𝘶𝘳𝘮𝘶𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘪𝘵𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘱𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘯𝘦’𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳.”

This was “digital” biomechanics, long before the term meant sensors, data, or simulations. Just a surgeon, a beating heart, and a profound realization: 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐜 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐞.

Today, at FIBER LABS, we no longer need to put a finger inside the heart to understand it, but the principle is exactly the same.

We study 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐬, 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐬, 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐫 to uncover how cardiovascular structures function, fail, and respond to treatment. 

From tactile intuition to advanced cardiovascular biomechanical testing, the journey spans 100 years and it continues to shape the future of cardiovascular research at FIBER LABS.

With thanks to Dr. Tom Treasure for highlighting this; more fascinating insights can be found in his book The Heart Club.