3 ms·
There is a great NYT documentary on artificial hearts and the history behind it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Xn5u-LzsW8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Xn
by sitic 10y ago
There is a great NYT documentary on artificial hearts and the history behind it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Xn5u-LzsW8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Xn5u-LzsW8
It starts with the Jarvik-7 artifical heart from the 1980s (first seen as a success, then as a failure) and then moves on to today's temporary and permanent artifical hearts.
- bd 10y agoReally interesting documentary. Thanks for posting this. ----- Some highlights: - these new SynCardia artificial hearts are basically the same as old Jarvik-7 hearts (part that goes inside patient's chest), save for different sizes available today - just the external part is now more modern (thanks to advances in power sources they can be now portable) - big problem with Jarvik-7 at those earlier times were infections and blood clotting (leading to strokes), but doctors today know better how to manage this (as far as I understood, this is not due to better mechanical design of the heart but due to better medication / monitoring / protocols compared to ~30 years ago) - these new SynCardia hearts were used for already ~1,600 patients (as "bridge" while waiting for heart transplant) - FDA approved trial for use of these artificial hearts as permanent solution (no heart transplant needed), the first patient already got implanted this heart for permanent use