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Membrane Can Keep Your Heart Beating Perfectly

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: 3, Interesting) by Rivenaleem on Monday March 03 2014, @06:34PM

    by Rivenaleem (3400) on Monday March 03 2014, @06:34PM (#10148)

    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)

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  • (Score: 2, Interesting) by The Grim Reefer on Monday March 03 2014, @07:40PM

    by The Grim Reefer (1451) on Monday March 03 2014, @07:40PM (#10178)

    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

      by Rivenaleem (3400) on Tuesday March 04 2014, @10:24PM (#11020)

      Okay, add 3D printing to my list above. Have they not already started 3D printing organs?