4 ms·
How does the device regulate the heartbeat speed? I mean, how does it know that it needs to pump blood faster or slower?
by xpl 2y ago
How does the device regulate the heartbeat speed? I mean, how does it know that it needs to pump blood faster or slower?
- slicktux 2y agoThat’s a good question! As a layman I would assume there’s no way to read/detect the hormones that would demand acceleration of the heartbeat? So one has to take it easy for the rest of their life? Or maybe there’s a way to manipulate it manually?
- 3eb7988a1663 2y agoIf the heart is no longer the weak link, can you permanently increase level of blood flow to something akin to moderate exertion? Presumably you are now limited by what the veins can handle, but maybe they have more flexible performance characteristics?
- xphos 2y agoLayman, but I imagine if your blood is flowing to fast doesn't help much the lungs have certain diffusion rates, the waste products wouldn't be increased because your not doing as much work. There is probably an optimal point where anymore just doesn't really matter. I beat there is some psychological factors to thought you don't have a beat or pulse that is probably unsettling
- qingcharles 2y agoIIRC this problem affects heart transplants as the nerve that controls the speed of the heart is severed during the operation.
- xpl 2y agoCan't implants read from that nerve? Or the issue is that the "protocol" is hard to reverse?
- yazaddaruvala 2y agoBlood oxygen sensors seem relatively cheap and low power. I wonder if they could use that as the feedback mechanism. Ideally if the sensors are small, low power, and cheap enough CO2 and lactic acid levels would also be good to check on to increase bloodflow.
- monero-xmr 2y agoMy friend had this pump pack attached to him (the same thing Dick Cheney had) and it was constant flow. His heart technically worked but it was so weak you could barely detect it. The pump was just constant circulation, no pumping.
- aitchnyu 2y agoHmm, do body processes depend on the fact that blood flows in pulses, and an optimal heart must be pulsed?
- Aunche 2y agoIt used to be assumed to be the case because the heartbeat is so closely associated with life. This is why the first artificial hearts replicated pulses, despite requiring much more complexity. It turns out that your body can function more or less fine with continuous blood flow.
- fuzzfactor 2y agoYes, with this device, there is no pulse.
- RheingoldRiver 2y agoDo they do something unrelated to the function of pumping blood, just to make the patient feel a heartbeat for comfort?
- fuzzfactor 2y agoI dont know for sure but the doctors were on TV in Houston a few months ago and IIRC they said no pulse. They did mention that one has been running continuously for two years in vitro, and the idea is for it to be reliable enough to eventually implant permanently in some situations.
- iancmceachern 2y agoIt doesn't, neither do lvads
- Nextgrid 2y agoAccelerometers to measure physical activity?
- briansm 2y agoI would assume the kind of people who need a replacement heart are already on beta-blocker drugs, which clamp the peak heart-rate down significantly, so their body would already be used to a very limited heart-rate range.
- JumpinJack_Cash 2y agoNot just for physical activity but for emotions as well, the palpitations before a skydive or the increased heart rate when you are kissing your crush/GF/wife Not to mention the erection thing. These things seems trival and of relative importance when compared with life or death but they are still important to go back to live a normal life.
- ElFitz 2y agoTransplanted hearts don’t regulate as well as the original one. They seem to default to a higher resting rate, with less heart rate variability. So maybe, for a temporary device, it isn’t necessary?