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An artificial heart is a device that is implanted into the body to replace the original biological heart. It is distinct from a cardiac pump, which is an external device used to provide the functions of both the heart and the lungs. Thus, the cardiac pump need not be connected to both blood circuits. Also, a cardiac pump is only suitable for use not longer than a few hours, while for the artificial heart the current record is 17 months.This synthetic replacement for an organic mammalian heart (usually human), remains one of the long-sought Holy Grails of modern medicine. Although the heart is conceptually a simple organ (basically a muscle that functions as a pump), it embodies complex subtleties that defy straightforward emulation using synthetic materials and power supplies. The obvious benefit of a functional artifical heart would be to lower the need for heart transplants, because the demand for donor hearts (as it is for all organs) always greatly exceeds supply.
Early attempts prior to Robert Jarvik with his Jarvik-7 were disappointing; hosts died within hours or days and/or suffered massive foreign-body rejection problems. Jarvik's human designs were more impressive but his patients succumbed as well, his first Jarvik-7 patient 61-year-old retired dentist Barney Clark survived for 112 days after it was implanted at the University of Utah on December 2, 1982. Another problem is that an artificial heart requires an external power supply such as a battery pack worn on the patient's waist; no design so far has been able to use the body's own natural biological energy.
On July 2, 2001, Robert Tools received the first completely self-contained artificial heart transplant at Jewish Hospital in Louisville, Kentucky. It is called the AbioCor Implantable Replacement Heart. Tom Christerson survived for 17 months after his artificial heart transplant, the current record.
Most doctors are confident that with increased understanding of the heart and continuing improvements in prosthetics engineering, computer science, electronics, batteryThe word battery has a number of senses, most of which are discussed in Wikipedia articles cited below. The origin of "battery" lies in words that mean "to beat", and a cluster of senses related directly to that. Another cluster of senses began as metapho technology, fuel cellA fuel cell is an electrochemical device similar to a battery, but differing from the latter in that it is designed for continuous replenishment of the reactants consumed; i. it produces electricity from an external fuel supply as opposed to the limited is, etc. that the practical artificial heart will be a reality sometime in the 21st century20th century 21st century 22nd century other centuries) Definition In calendars based on the Christian Era or Common Era, such as the Gregorian calendar, the 21st century is the current century, as of this writing, lasting from 2001- 2100. The 21st centur.
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medical equipmentMedical equipment is machinery designed to aid medical therapies. It is usually designed with rigorous safety standards. There are several basic types: Life support equipment is used maintain a patient's bodily function. These include medical ventilators,
CardiologyCardiology is the branch of medicine dealing with disorders of the heart and blood vessels. The human heart is a complex organ, consisting of two ventricles and two atria. Coronary arteries feed the heart the blood it needs to sustain itself. Selected top
