Finally the the technology of satellites and airplanes can save your life. Wonder?
The Franch scientists have a working prototype of a fully artificial heart. It expected to save millions of lives and beats almost exactly like the real thing using electronic sensors to regulate heart rate and blood flow.
Developers Carmat, funded by the European space and defense group EADS, presented the device at a press conference in Paris on Monday. Carmat’s chief operating officer Patrick Coulombier explained that the same tiny sensors that measure air pressure and altitude in an airplane or satellite are also in the artificial heart. This should allow the device to respond immediately if the patient needs more or less blood.The French design has so far only been tested in animals, and now needs approval from its authorities before pushing ahead with clinical trials.
The French heart is also the most lifelike, with two pumps to send the blood into the lungs and the rest of the body, just like a real heart. Past artificial hearts have only had one pump.
The French model is made from natural materials including polymer and pig tissue, which have already been used in heart valves implanted into people. The artificial heart would initially be for patients who had suffered a massive heart attack or who had heart failure, but might eventually be used in patients who are not that sick.
The artificial heart is expected to cost about 150,000 euros or $192,140.
Source: cnn.com
Filed under Heart Disease
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