Oct. 27, 2008 -- No pulse? No problem, say Texas scientists who are developing an artificial heart that would leave patients pulse-less. Constant flow pumps, as they are called, are based on ancient technology. The ancient Greek mathematician, Archimedes, first used an elongated screw encased in a tube to raise water from one level to another. Since 2003 over 1,600 patients have had a screw-shaped pump implanted that operates continuously to help their ventricles pump blood to the rest of their body (formally called a ventricular assist device). They still have a natural heart beat, but put two fingers to their neck or wrist and you won't detect a pulse. Now doctors at the Texas Heart Institute are teaming up with scientists from the University of Houston, in a effort to completely replace the beating human heart with a humming constant flow pump. MicroMed Cardiovascular, Inc. produces the device. It may not perfectly match a natural heart's activity, but as E.O. Frazier with the Texas Heart Institute, points out, it would perform the same function. Related Content: Eric Bland's Blog: Interior Design Inkjet Printers Eyed to Make Human Heart How Stuff Works: Artificial Heart "For years mankind tried to imitate the way birds fly," said Frazier, a doctor at the Texas Heart Institute who developed the original constant flow ventricular assist device. "We still can't fly like the birds, but we get around pretty well." Total artificial replacement hearts, such as the pulsed Jarvik-7 or AbioCor artificial hearts, already exist and have been implanted into patients. The mechanical hearts pump blood, similar to natural hearts, but often fail after one to two years because of mechanical failures related to the pumping actions. Because of this, the artificial hearts are meant to buy patients time until a natural heart becomes available for transplant. Today's artificial hearts are also large; women, children and many men aren't eligible for the hearts. "I'm about 6'1'' and about 200 pounds," said Steve Parnis, another Texas Heart Institute doctor. "And I don't think one would fit into me." A constant flow pump is much smaller, about the size of a C cell battery. The small size of the pumps means they could be placed in a much wider variety of people, even some children. A constant flow pump should also be more resistant to mechanical failures, meaning a pump could last a couple of decades, instead of a couple years. |
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