AnonTechie writes:
"Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Washington University in St. Louis have developed a new device that may one day help prevent heart attacks. Unlike existing pacemakers and implantable defibrillators that are one-size-fits-all, the new device is a thin, elastic membrane designed to stretch over the heart like a custom-made glove and may arrive to human hearts in 10 to 15 years.
They custom made it to precisely fit the shape of the rabbit's heart: First, while the rabbit was still alive, they scanned it and created a 3D model using computer aided tomography. They manufactured the model in a 3D printer, which they used as a mold to create the membrane. After that they took the heart out, applied the membrane, and kept it beating at a perfect pace.
(Score: 5, Funny) by CoolHand on Monday March 03 2014, @05:43PM
Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job-Douglas Adams
(Score: 1) by Dachannien on Monday March 03 2014, @06:43PM
Nah, just chuck it back in there. It'll work fine!
(Score: 2) by davester666 on Monday March 03 2014, @06:53PM
Details shmetails.
Who doesn't want an elastic band around their heart?
(Score: 1) by efitton on Monday March 03 2014, @11:55PM
My father had a triple bypass this last December. The take out the heart. Obviously they keep it all hooked up, etc. but the actual heart is taken out of the chest. End of the procedure they wash out the body cavity and put it back in. I imagine that this type of procedure would be similar in terms of lower the body temp, crack open the chest, etc.
Anyhow, pretty amazing.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Dunbal on Monday March 03 2014, @06:15PM
While as a concept it may be wonderful, installing a pacemaker is a minor surgical procedure that requires a small incision under the pectoral muscle, and the leads are places through endo-vascular techniques (through the blood vessels to the heart guided by x-ray fluoroscopy). It's not necessary to open the chest cavity.
Anything that requires a sternotomy (cracking open the rib cage at the sternum) is major surgery indeed. Considering the fact that your patient probably is not the best surgical candidate in the first place (because he has heart trouble requiring the device), this would all but rule out the possibility of fitting it to those who would most benefit from it. Of course it could always be implanted after other routine heart surgeries as standard procedure as a back up for the post operative period. Or endoscopic techniques could be developed in the future. But right now, as it is, I think it is of limited usefulness. Wired devices are less invasive and less risky.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Rivenaleem on Monday March 03 2014, @06:34PM
One would also wonder at the timescale. With the pace that stem cell and organ cloning is progressing, will replacement hearts be available before this thing is (10 to 15 years)
(Score: 2, Interesting) by The Grim Reefer on Monday March 03 2014, @07:40PM
Possibly. But this may be a good stop gap measure for when you go into the emergency room. Presumably a new heart would need to be grown from your own cells to reduce complications with rejection. That will take some time.
(Score: 1) by Rivenaleem on Tuesday March 04 2014, @10:24PM
Okay, add 3D printing to my list above. Have they not already started 3D printing organs?
(Score: 3, Informative) by mmcmonster on Monday March 03 2014, @07:48PM
Agree. This has extremely limited usefullness.
There's also issues with the terminology used in the summary. This WILL NOT PREVENT A HEART ATTACK. A heart attack is when a segment of the heart muscle dies, typically due to insufficient blood due to an acutely occluded coronary artery (the arteries that supply the heart muscle itself with blood).
This seems to be a type of pacemaker. Pacemakers are used when the heart rate is too low. As the parent post said, we have much simpler ways to put a pacemaker than this.
As a cardiologist, I see extremely limited use for a device like this.
(Score: 1, Funny) by timbim on Monday March 03 2014, @06:29PM
Is there anything they can't do?
(Score: 4, Funny) by The Grim Reefer on Monday March 03 2014, @07:37PM
Divide by 0?
(Score: 2, Funny) by bob_super on Monday March 03 2014, @08:25PM
Print legal tender.
With technological progress, they'll do soon, but then we'll all change our currency to the leaf.
(Score: 1) by efitton on Monday March 03 2014, @11:58PM
The devaluation of the leaf will mean that we will have to burn some forest down.
(Score: 1) by clone141166 on Tuesday March 04 2014, @01:06AM
That is why I keep all my money in BitBark.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by chewbacon on Tuesday March 04 2014, @02:27AM
This is a multi-site pacemaker on the epicardium. The "membrane" merely holds it together. I think St. Jude is coming out with something similar via the endocardial route (endovascular route), which has its own challenges this would get around. However unless they perfected a sort of laparoscopic technique for this, the endovascular route is far less invasive compared to cracking open the chest for this. I would think candidacy for this and benefits outweighing risks for this therapy would be rare.
As far as ICDs go, the latest and greatest electrophysiologists are crazy about is the subcutaneous defibrillator. The device goes under the arm and a lead is tunneled under the skin and runs next to the sternum. It's a great option for relatively young patients so you don't have to do a lead (wire) replacement 20-25 years later. Uses more joules than the endovascular lead ICD, but patient's really can't tell the difference.