WHY NO MECHANICAL HEART?

[RICHARD566]

IT IS AMAZING TO ME THAT WITH ALL OF THE ADVANCEMENTS THAT WE HAVE MADE IN COMPUTERS, AND MANY OTHER AREAS OF OUR TECHNOLOGY THAT A RELIABLE COMPUTER CONTROLLED MECHANICAL HEART HAS NOT BEEN PERFECTED.  I REALIZE THE HEART IS COMPLEX BUT WE PUT MEN ON THE MOON 40 YEARS AGO.  WE ARE TALKING ABOUT A 4 STAGE PUMP.  SUCH AMAZING AND ALMOST MAGICAL THINGS HAVE BEEN DONE IN MANY OTHER AREAS.  

WHAT IS TAKING SO LONG?  

[MichelleP_3811]

Good question.  I am sure someone is out there trying to figure it out.

[achillea]

The biggest problem is not in manufacturing a four-chamber pump. An immense series of difficulties center on finding the right materials, especially substances that are durable, that do not cause clotting or an immune response, that are non-toxic to every potential recipient, and that do not cause cancer.  So far, no such materials have been found.

Here, I hope, is a link to a pdf describing some of the problems:

profiles.nlm.nih.gov/ps/access/GNBBCV.pdf

If you read through this, you will get some idea of how very difficult the task is--and how amazing the natural heart is.

[is_something_wrong]

There are mechanical hearts, but they are not perfect. They are used in cases of severe myocarditis (giant-cell myocarditis) when waiting for a heart transplant.

First, an issue is the batteries. As you know, a heart requires a lot of energy so people with mechanical hearts must bring a bag along with them at all times, which may be a problem with criminal people stealing bags. The batteries also needs charging and it would be quite bad if you forgot that. You need to recharge at night like an electrical car. I guess solar power is somewhat ruled out, and so is fuel-powered hearts. Maybe nuclear power would work, though I'm not so sure that's 100% safe either :)

Second, when doing exercise, etc, you need to manually turn up the pumping speed. I'm sure someone could develop an adrenaline sensor.

Third, a mechanical heart is pumping blood with constant speed. So, your blood pressure would not be, say 120/70, but more 90/90. Not sure how that affects the body.

[RICHARD566]

THANKS FOR THE RESPONSES.  I THINK NOT ENOUGH PRIORITY AND MONEY HAVE BEEN PUT TOWARDS THIS.

I SHOULD HAVE BOUGHT THE EXTENDED WARRANTY FOR THE ONE THAT CAME WITH THIS BODY

****  

[DeltaDawn23]

AARP magazine just had an article about the heart assist pump that is saving lives.  It is a bridge to a transplant, and some are also living on it -- like **** Cheney.  They carry a battery pack and have an opening into their abdomen, but hey, they're still here.  It sounds like they are working on making it smaller and more refined.  I remember when the first refrigerator sized artificial heart was tried -- I thought then that if it worked, it would beat not being here at all -- one could still read, look out a window, enjoy life.

  

[itdood]

If I were to invent the most perfect mechanical heart, guess how it would work.  It would look exactly the same as a biological heart.  There is no better design.

Think about that for second if your mind can venture into this territory.  What is the end game for the most perfect mechanical heart?

Think about all the requirements a person would have...  Something I don't have to care for, it's quiet,  I can't even tell it's running most of the time (unless it's misfiring of course) fits in my chest, doesn't make my blood clot, doesn't require an outside power source, has many fail-safes built in, no hoses or power chords going through my chest wall...

What a great design!

well, nature did this already.  It's a biological heart.  So the perfect mechanical heart is a biological one.  

There is no better design.  

So until we can grow one in a lab with stem cells, we're left with these inorganic abominations.  Or, a transplant.  

I know what you're saying, why can't we make it better with a non=biological system?  Well, that's because the biological design is better.  It's got 4.5 billion years of evolutionary upgrades, it's a wonderful pump.  

Think it through.  If you were to design the most perfect heart, you'd end up with what nature came up with.