Thursday, February 17, 2011

Plastic heart beats for 3 days and nights, kicks off trend

You will find millions of products in the vaults of museums that a lot of people don’t see. The Smithsonian institution has many of those. On Monday, honoring Valentine's Day, the Smithsonian introduced a picture of the first plastic heart. That first artificial heart beat for three full days and nights. This kind of medical engineering undoubtedly took a huge personel loan to create.

Background of the plastic heart that beat for 3 days and nights

In 1969, the first ever plastic heart was implanted in a human being. Dr. Domingo Liotta evolved the plastic heart although Dr. Denton A. Cooley implanted it. Dr. Cooley commandeered the plastic heart from Dr. Liotta’s lab and implanted it without authorization. The patient’s plastic heart beat for 3 days and nights before a human transplant heart was found. Despite the human heart, the patient died, however the plastic heart began a plastic heart trend. The plastic heart itself is in the Smithsonian Institution, which introduced a photo of it to commemorate St. Valentine’s Day.

Development of plastic heart transplants

Though the first “plastic” heart was implanted in 1969, it was not until 2004 the FDA approved a plastic heart implant. The Jarvick-7 was the first viable plastic heart transplant that beat for a long period of time, and it was evolved in 1982. A human heart is nevertheless used for permanent transplant although a plastic heart could be used as a temporary replacement after being approved in 2004. In 2006, the FDA approved a permanent plastic heart transplant, the AbioCor Implantable Replacement Heart. A 13-pound system in a backpack is needed in order to keep a plastic heart going. Every year, it’s maintained on $18,000.

Likelihood of success with a self-contained heart

The dream of a plastic heart that started in 1969 has nevertheless not come to full fruition. Maintenance and heavy equipment are required for a plastic heart to be used even though it can keep an individual alive and is accessible. It may be a long time before the self-contained heart is really available even though researchers are working on it considering there was 30 years between the first plastic heart beating for 3 days and nights and the 13 pound backpack supported heart.

Articles cited

News Desk

newsdesk.si.edu/snapshot/liotta-cooley-artificial-heart

New York Times

nytimes.com/2007/11/27/health/27docs.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=denton%20cooley&st=cse

American Heart Association

americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4444



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