5 ms·

Artificial hearts already work since quite a while. It is amazing, but real organs can sustain themself - artificial mechanical ones not. And need surgery for

Artificial hearts already work since quite a while. It is amazing, but real organs can sustain themself - artificial mechanical ones not. And need surgery for replacement. I have my hopes on artificial real organs and see the mechanical ones as a intermediate solution.

akoluthic 5y ago
A miraculous breakthrough could be on two fronts: artificial "meat organs" for those whose life is at immediate risk and need a transplant, and regenerative biotech/medicine to repair those with damage without requiring surgery. Either way, implanted devices can be a good bridge from our current situation.
- esturk 5y ago
  And they are. One of the other 6 finalists were doing "Genetically-engineered pig kidney xenotransplantation". The idea is to "Genetically engineered pig kidneys that will increase the supply of transplantable organs by eliminating the antibody barrier to xenotransplantation."
kiba 5y ago
I would like a backup heart, but not sure if it makes sense from an engineering standpoint.
- bobmaxup 5y ago
  For sudden cardiac death? Isn't that mostly caused by arrhythmia? So a prophylactic pacemaker maybe? Isn't that already a thing?
  - krageon 5y ago
    The threat model could be a freak heart stabbing. In which case a backup heart somewhere else (and some truly earthshattering breakthroughs in fast clotting) might make sense.
    - saalweachter 5y ago
      My dream technology would be a way to make my body just ... stop, if Something Bad happened, like all my blood falling out, until someone stumbled upon my non-rotting corpse, patched the holes, and filled it back up. It's such bullshit that if I stop living for even a little bit my body melts into useless slag like an engine running without oil.
  - kiba 5y ago
    I imagined damage to the heart muscles or blocked blood vessel.
MayeulC 5y ago
> Artificial hearts already work since quite a while Frankly I wouldn't want one for $1B. IIRC the longest recorded survival with an artificial rate was about 3 months for a continuous flow 'pulse-less' device https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_heart https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_heart So yeah, they "work", but are still far from perfect.
- hutzlibu 5y ago
  Oh. I assumed they performed better by now. So basically getting a artificial heart as a replacement right now, means taking part in developing science and medicine, but not really realistically with any hopes of living on.
- greatpatton 5y ago
  Seems that the article is a bit outdated. Carmat total artificial heart already had patient with at least 20 months of survival (it is currently used as a bridge until transplantation). * https://www.bfmtv.com/economie/entreprises/services/carmat-un-patient-a-deja-vecu-plus-de-20-mois-avec-un-coeur-artificiel_AV-201910290241.html https://www.bfmtv.com/economie/entreprises/services/carmat-u... (20 months in French) https://www.carmatsa.com/en/news/carmat-feedback-6-years-8-months-cumulative-support-shows-constant-improvement-clinical-outcomes-patients-pivotal-study/ https://www.carmatsa.com/en/news/carmat-feedback-6-years-8-m... (latest study results)

akoluthic 5y ago

A miraculous breakthrough could be on two fronts: artificial "meat organs" for those whose life is at immediate risk and need a transplant, and regenerative biotech/medicine to repair those with damage without requiring surgery. Either way, implanted devices can be a good bridge from our current situation.

esturk 5y ago
And they are. One of the other 6 finalists were doing "Genetically-engineered pig kidney xenotransplantation". The idea is to "Genetically engineered pig kidneys that will increase the supply of transplantable organs by eliminating the antibody barrier to xenotransplantation."

kiba 5y ago

I would like a backup heart, but not sure if it makes sense from an engineering standpoint.

bobmaxup 5y ago
For sudden cardiac death? Isn't that mostly caused by arrhythmia? So a prophylactic pacemaker maybe? Isn't that already a thing?
- krageon 5y ago
  The threat model could be a freak heart stabbing. In which case a backup heart somewhere else (and some truly earthshattering breakthroughs in fast clotting) might make sense.
  - saalweachter 5y ago
    My dream technology would be a way to make my body just ... stop, if Something Bad happened, like all my blood falling out, until someone stumbled upon my non-rotting corpse, patched the holes, and filled it back up. It's such bullshit that if I stop living for even a little bit my body melts into useless slag like an engine running without oil.
- kiba 5y ago
  I imagined damage to the heart muscles or blocked blood vessel.

MayeulC 5y ago

> Artificial hearts already work since quite a while Frankly I wouldn't want one for $1B. IIRC the longest recorded survival with an artificial rate was about 3 months for a continuous flow 'pulse-less' device https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_heart https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_heart So yeah, they "work", but are still far from perfect.

hutzlibu 5y ago
Oh. I assumed they performed better by now. So basically getting a artificial heart as a replacement right now, means taking part in developing science and medicine, but not really realistically with any hopes of living on.
greatpatton 5y ago
Seems that the article is a bit outdated. Carmat total artificial heart already had patient with at least 20 months of survival (it is currently used as a bridge until transplantation). * https://www.bfmtv.com/economie/entreprises/services/carmat-un-patient-a-deja-vecu-plus-de-20-mois-avec-un-coeur-artificiel_AV-201910290241.html https://www.bfmtv.com/economie/entreprises/services/carmat-u... (20 months in French) https://www.carmatsa.com/en/news/carmat-feedback-6-years-8-months-cumulative-support-shows-constant-improvement-clinical-outcomes-patients-pivotal-study/ https://www.carmatsa.com/en/news/carmat-feedback-6-years-8-m... (latest study results)