Posted by James Fargnoli(4)
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
No Need for a Pulse
The beating of our heart is equated only with the breathing of our lungs when it comes to functional importance, and far surpasses it in number of metaphors. But there are people - just a few - who are walking around with a heart that doesn't beat. Instead, they have two small Archimedes's screws sewn in place of their ventricles that propel their blood throughout the body with no pulse - at all. After all the years of trying to imitate the hearts pump, an entirely different mechanism seems to have succeeded. In the Popular Science article, No Pulse: How Doctors Reinvented the Human Heart, they liken the uniqueness of the mechanism to the discovery of human flight, which also ignores the blueprint given by nature. For now, the device is more likely to serve as an aid to a failing heart than as a replacement. In some cases, though, it has taken over full responsibility for the circulation of blood. It's hopeful that heart surgery may not rely solely on a transplant list in the future.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
It is amazing how far science and medicine have come, and how much has been achieved within the past 50 years. Who would have thought it to be possible to walk, talk, go on with ones daily life withought a heart. Although mainly used as an aid or a temporary fix until a heart transplant has happened, individuals have been able to survive a good amount of time through this procedure. Hopefully with additional research, this procedure could become a permanent fix for individuals waiting for a heart, saving the lives of millions.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like something out of a science fiction movie, if not a horror flick. I can only imagine how these people must feel. To not feel your own heart beat, that's some scary stuff. It is an amazing achievement but there are many questions that need to be asked. How much stress could this implant take. Could it be developed so someone could exercise again? What would the psychological effect on these implant recipients be? Still very interesting article.
ReplyDeleteposted by Dorian Pillari(c)
Really cool post James. I'm just curious how an Archimedes screw could pump blood throughout the entire body at a rate similar to the human heart. Does this mechanism still generate a systolic/diastolic blood pressure?
ReplyDeletePosted by Michael Thomas
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteIt spins at something like 5000 rpm and "lifts" the blood through, similar to how it would work in a well.
DeleteGood point about the blood pressure. There's no systolic pressure, because the ventricles have been removed and replaced with this mechanism, but there's still a diastolic pressure.
Posted by James Fargnoli
I hope this is a safe and reliable method for heart replacement. If someone was relying on this device and it shorted out it would be awful! Its very interesting to see a combination of physics and biology being used in medicine instead of the typical chemistry and biology.
ReplyDeleteRhys Ursuliak
Does it only pump at one rate? I too wonder how it works in situations of stress, or if one can exercise while having these pumps in. If you experience an adrenaline rush, does the pump pump the heart faster? Either way this is still fascinating. I can't even imagine how something like this could become a real breakthrough once it develops years from now.
ReplyDeleteTaylor Pirog
It actually doesn't pump at all. Our body naturally has a steady flow of blood despite the pumping because of the elasticity of major arteries so that's not a problem.
DeleteThe exercise question is a good one I was thinking that myself and I couldn't come up with an answer. The pacemaker would still be intact so perhaps it would? I'm not sure.
Posted by James Fargnoli
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI wonder why the human heart evolved to have a pump rather than a steady flow. Why is pumping more evolutionary stable than this? Apparently it can go either way and still support life so it'd be interesting to find out why this took prevalence.
ReplyDeleteMike Selden (C)
Even with the "pumping" system we have, the flow of blood is steady. Our major arteries have an elasticity to them that works to keep a constant rate of blood flowing through.
DeletePosted by James Fargnoli
The heart is one of the strongest muscles in the human body that constantly works to supply blood. If we did develop a new way of mechanizing a different "pumping" system that will replace heart, it'll be a great advancement. But the only question is, how will be power the amount of work that a regular human heart does?
ReplyDeletePosted By Andy Zou