All 3D printed innovations have something in common: they are only producing inorganic, plastic-based material. What about organic materials, such as human organs? Wouldn’t it be great if new organs could be printed out and used in surgical operations to save people’s lives? (Video)
Continue reading… “Human heart can now be 3D printed using biological materials”
Spectrum Health Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital congenital heart experts have successfully integrated two common imaging techniques to produce a three-dimensional anatomic model of a patient’s heart. Continue reading… “First 3D heart printed using multiple imaging techniques”
A specialized fluid and pump has been developed that provide the heart with oxygen, reducing damage and preserving the tissue.
Two Australian patients have had hearts successfully transplanted that had been dead for over 20 minutes thanks to a new method of preservation. The ability to save hearts that have stopped beating will drastically widen the amount of organs available, possibly suiting the needs of 30% of those on the transplant wait list. The research was a joint effort between Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute and Sydney’s St. Vincent’s Hospital, with Professor Bob Graham leading the team.
Continue reading… “Surgeons transplant ‘dead’ hearts into patients for the first time ever”
The Living Heart Project
The World Health Organization’s recent research has revealed that 17.3 million people died from cardiovascular diseases worldwide in 2008, representing 30 percent of all global deaths. A report by the American Heart Association, Forecasting the Future of Cardiovascular Disease in the United States, believes the total direct medical costs of cardiovascular disease will reach $818.1 billion over the next three decades. (Video)
Tiny ultrasonic device
The less invasive a surgical procedure is, the better. Less invasive surgeries reduce patient discomfort, foster faster recoveries, and limit the risk of infection. Problem is, you have to get your eyes on a problem to solve it.
Continue reading… “Tiny ultrasonic chip will travel the arteries and heart to image blockages”
Stretchable electronics make it possible to custom fit pacemakers for each patient.
Scientists have developed an interconnected web of sensors and electrodes that can monitor someone’s heart around the clock, as well as deliver tiny electrical impulses to ensure it keeps beating properly. This even applies to catastrophic events such as a heart attack, which the device can often reverse. Thanks to the use of 3D printing, each device can be custom fitted to an individual patient to ensure the best possible results.
Continue reading… “3D printed bio patch can reverse heart attacks and keep hearts beating”
Patching up holes in blood vessels and the heart’s walls may become easier with blood-resistant glue.
You’re operating on a heart and it’s got a tear in it. How do you mend it? The traditional answers are with sutures or staples, but they aren’t good ones. Both involve piercing tissue and creating holes, which is bad news for an organ that’s constantly moving, and vigorously pumping blood. Holes lead to clots. They also bleed.
Continue reading… “New surgical glue can mend a broken heart”
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Rs1z9XigUA[/youtube]
In France, A 75-year-old man has just been given the gift of life as a team of surgeons have successfully completed the transplant of the world’s first true artificial heart.
Continue reading… “A half-cow, half-electronic artificial heart has saved this Frenchman”
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pd3TFB0wOI0[/youtube]
There has already been success by researchers in growing tracheas, bladders, and body parts like noses on scaffolds using stem cells. Why not try to develop something more complex, like a heart or lungs? Dr. Harald Ott is a surgeon and researcher at Boston’s Massachusetts General Hospital who has been working on this very question.
Continue reading… “Scientists trying to build human hearts for organ transplants”
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Francisco Fernandez-Aviles reached into a stainless steel tray and lifted up a gray, rubbery mass the size of a fat fist. It was a human cadaver heart that had been bathed in industrial detergents until its original cells had been washed away and all that was left was what scientists call the scaffold.
Continue reading… “Scientists grow human organs in a lab”
Increased risk of death for people who eat a diet of processed meat.
Vegetarians have healthier hearts but people who have diets high in processed meat — regardless of whether or not it contains horse — are at a significantly increased risk of death due to cardiovascular disease, and to a lesser extent, cancer.
Continue reading… “Processed meat linked to early death: Study”
What is right for controlling blood pressure in a 50-year-old might not work for a frail 80-year-old.
Unless you are a frail older person controlling high blood pressure is a good thing. Then it might be harmful. That’s the surprising finding of a study of more than 2,000 seniors published online in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
Continue reading… “Approach to blood pressure control may need to change as we get older”
