6 ms·
A pulse no longer necessary for life
- hugh3 15y agoI know that a company called VentraCor was testing pulseless artificial hearts in sheep at least eight years ago. I just went looking for their website to post here, but apparently they've shut down. On further googling it turns out that they shut down in 2008 when three out of their 188 human test subjects dropped dead due to their hearts accidentally coming unplugged. Whoops.
- chashaz 15y agoHmm..very interesting technology. Is it the beginning of immortality? Just for the laughs, this reminds me of the fictional Umbrella Corp. and may be this could end up being the real life version of Resident Evil? :P
- scythe 15y agoHasn't Dick Cheney had no pulse for a while now? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_cheney#Health_problems http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_cheney#Health_problems
- JoachimSchipper 15y agoWikipedia says that this is literally true (check the last sentence) - it's not some kind of "Dick Cheney is a heartless bastard" joke. So please hold off on the downvotes (parent was at 0 when I posted).
- scythe 15y agoYeah, I wasn't going after the guy (this time), though I admit I originally learned that on the Daily Show and just did a quick confirmation-check before I posted. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ventricular_assist_device http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ventricular_assist_device -- looks like centrifugal pumps have existed for at least long enough for someone to write a Wikipedia article about them.
- jdthomas 15y agoCheney has the Heartmate II (the same device the researchers used two of in this project). It is an axial flow as opposed to centrifugal pump. The first back non-pulsating heart assist device I could find is the hemopump: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemopump http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemopump
- deleted 15y ago[deleted]
- skimbrel 15y agoDammit, that was the joke I came here to make!
- artmageddon 15y agoWhile I'm all for the advancement of science, am I the only one who feels that concealing a vital sign of life is more or less a bad idea? If a person stops breathing, one of the first things a medical responder will do is check for a pulse. I imagine this will be important for the target market. I could see these also being desired by prisoners wishing to escape confinement by hiding in an exiting truck or perhaps enemy combatants who hope to not be detected by heartbeat sensors(if those even really exist).
- sdfjkl 15y agoYou might want a tattoo on your neck explaining the situation (assuming that's where first aiders will commonly try to find your pulse).
- Shenglong 15y agoThat's by far the easiest pulse to find. Though, from my training, I'm always feeling for breath while taking a pulse at the same time. For first aid reasons, usually the reason you take a pulse is to gauge whether you need to give CPR - and if they don't have a pulse to begin with, there's not really a point in CPR. Plus, most people with existing medical conditions worth mentioning usually wear a bracelet. I feel this would fall into the same category.
- Peaker 15y agoI thought CPR pumps the lungs and heart to provide blood and oxygen support -- which is definitely useful when there's no pulse.
- Shenglong 15y agoIn the general case, yes. But what about when the lack of pulse is caused by the machine? How will forced compression be handled by the machine? Blood may still be pumping, and breathing circulates air, if I'm not mistaken.
- sdfjkl 15y agoIsn't this in some ways performing better than a normal human heart? A pump with a constantly rotating mechanism seems more suitable to pumping liquid than a contracting bag of meat and muscle. I'd give it about ten years before athletes get banned from getting a high performance "sport edition" heart.
- DasIch 15y agoYou still need to power it somehow and anything that affects electrical systems might kill you. In sports your heart is a lot less relevant than your lung capacity. You are more likely to end up with not enough oxygen than your heart not being able to pump your blood fast enough. Which is another problem, there is a reason your heart doesn't beat at full speed: How well does a pump regulate the blood flow?
- rayval 15y agoOne could have a Nike-style sensor in the shoe, connected via bluetooth, with a manual override of some sort. Plus a smartphone-based accelerometer and gyro.
- ohyes 15y agoYes, just replace the brainstem with an ever increasing amount of hardware. Of course, it will be problematic when you accidentally leave the wireless on your smartphone turned on and kill the battery.
- joezydeco 15y agoHow does the advice adjust for increased oxygen demands, like when you're exercising?
- Gotttzsche 15y agomaybe you're just always getting increased oxygen, making you a superhuman. :) i wonder what it feels like to have no pulse.
- joezydeco 15y agoDevice, not advice.
- majmun 15y agodon't think exercise is allowed. But it would be cool if RPM's of rotor are automatically regulated with possibility of manual tuning. if it was better than normal heart everyone would want to have it.
- bpick 15y agoI posted this yesterday, IMO Npr's write-up is more interesting: http://www.npr.org/2011/06/13/137029208/heart-with-no-beat-offers-hope-of-new-lease-on-life http://www.npr.org/2011/06/13/137029208/heart-with-no-beat-o...
- cappaert 15y agoThe Economist published an interesting article about the device (LVADs) a week or so ago: http://www.economist.com/node/18750728?story_id=18750728 http://www.economist.com/node/18750728?story_id=18750728 Turns out they've been around since 1994. And yes, Dick Cheney is without a heartbeat.
- bh42222 15y agoThis a re-print of a PhysOrg.com article. I tried to find a non-PhysOrg.com site, but PhysOrg.com links to medicalxpress.com I'm guessing PhysOrg.com is picking up on the fact that people are starting to see their writing as over-hyped and unreliable. Thus a new .com address. Shame, all they have to do is just write well and we'll like them. Talk about going the wrong way.
- torstesu 15y agoFascinating. Similar experiments, but in a bit more disturbing and somewhat cruel setting, was carried out by Russian scientist in the 1940's. Please be aware that the link provided contains a video which is disturbing to the public in general and pet owners in particular. http://www.archive.org/details/Experime1940 http://www.archive.org/details/Experime1940
- swah 15y agoGuess one will have to devise another method to check for anxiety.