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posted by janrinok on Monday March 03 2014, @05:30PM   Printer-friendly
from the who-wants-to-live-forever? dept.

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.

The full article can be found here"

 
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  • (Score: 5, Funny) by CoolHand on Monday March 03 2014, @05:43PM

    by CoolHand (438) on Monday March 03 2014, @05:43PM (#10132) Journal
    I'm no medical doctor, but it seems to this good ole boy that they might want to investigate getting this "glove" put on the heart and keeping it beating while it's still INSIDE the body...
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  • (Score: 1) by Dachannien on Monday March 03 2014, @06:43PM

    by Dachannien (2494) on Monday March 03 2014, @06:43PM (#10153)

    Nah, just chuck it back in there. It'll work fine!

  • (Score: 2) by davester666 on Monday March 03 2014, @06:53PM

    by davester666 (155) on Monday March 03 2014, @06:53PM (#10157)

    Details shmetails.

    Who doesn't want an elastic band around their heart?

  • (Score: 1) by efitton on Monday March 03 2014, @11:55PM

    by efitton (1077) on Monday March 03 2014, @11:55PM (#10351) Homepage

    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.