In March of last year (2011), there was a man who's heart could no longer sustain life...
Who dares to cut into people and sow into their hearts? Two leading cardiologist heart surgeons, Billy Cohn & Bud Frazier are burdened with the trust of their patients to perform operations that may save or may end lives.
Somebody has to be trusted to take these life or death chances when people are in need. The truly amazing approach that these men are taking is groundbreaking in terms of heart function and heart replacement. These men are not only saving lives but also creating new, and effective ways to save lives. They have been able to identify technologies that do not exist but need to exist, and it has led them to uncharted territory in their field.
The human heart is a mechanism which acts as a pump to transport oxygenated blood to the organs, systems, and muscles of the body while pumping deoxygenated from the same organs, systems, and muscles to the lungs where gas exchange may take place. (For a more in-depth description click here)
The surgeons have developed a mechanism that replaces the heart entirely. Instead of acting as a pump it uses two turbines that allow for a continuous flow of blood, like in a hose. Because of the continuous flow there is no heart beat present. the lack of heart beat contradicts how physiology of the heart is defined. By the criteria that has been traditionally used to analyze patients; palpation, auscultation, blood pressure, they would be defined as dead.
The first human surgery performed in March of 2011 was a success. Since then there have been at least two more successful full heat replacements. I believe the fact that these men have shown that human physiology can be supported without a pulse shows tremendous promise of what lays ahead of mankind. This story shows us that mans ability to create new approaches and technologies to heal or cure the sick may be
limitless.
Also see:
Video report of the story
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o Wow. It is crazy to think that by medical standards a patient with this artificial heart would be thought of as “dead” as they have no heart beat. If the person were to go into cardiac arrest or pass away of other causes how would they be able to tell if the person’s heart was still “beating” or if the person was alive? Also, how many unsuccessful transplants have they had? This is a very fascinating topic and a revolutionary science. Think about all those people in the world waiting for a heart transplant. In time, biological heart transplants may be replaced by artificial heart transplants.
ReplyDeleteI agree! I was completely shocked! I also wonder how this artificial heart responds to stress, and physical activity? I would need to do some more research but I wonder how it responds to increased demands of the body.
ReplyDeleteThat is a very good question! I'm assuming the artificial heart is controlled by some sort of electrical signal but I do not know how they would account for physical activity with that signal because they would need a physiological signal from the body to sense when it should increase "heart rate". Good question!
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