The most advanced bioartificial heart

The French company Carmat has been authorized to begin implementing its new human artificial heart, considered one of the most advanced to date. Although only some pilot tests have been carried out so far, the new artificial organ will be used for the first time in four hospitals in Belgium, Poland, Slovenia and Saudi Arabia.

This model is considered the latest generation of artificial heart, and although there are many advantages that have been observed in the tests, it is also true that there is little experience with their use. Unlike mechanical artificial hearts, which consist of a pump that is connected to the heart or implanted in the chest to help or replace a failing heart (without removing it), bioartificial hearts are designed to completely replace the original organ.

New bioartificial heart (copyright Carmat)

The device has a price of 200,000 euros and a battery life of about 14 hours. Moreover is manufactured with a series of materials that reduce the risk of thrombi to the patient, resulting in less need for anticoagulant therapy. Although it is early to assess what the outcome will be, the Carmat heart presents already some advantages compared to its predecessors: it is a smaller model (it weights just one kg) and it comes with a SW that controls it efficiently (the artificial heart regulates itself very well and knows how much blood is necessary to pump at all times).

In a joint statement, cardiac surgeons of the four hospitals have declared that "terminal heart failure is a major public health problem that crosses borders. This artificial heart is a true innovation for the medical community. We are eager to sart early implementations and analyze its potential benefits for our patients". When talking about this artificial heart, we are probably talking about the future treatment of heart failure.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/14/us-carmat-artificialheart-idUSBRE94D0KL20130514

Medical device destroys itself leaving no trace in the body

Imagine an electronic device that releases the drug in the area where it is needed, measure your vital signs, treats a surgical wound and once done it has done its job it melts away ... All this without leaving a trace, as if it had never been in the body. A new class of devices grouped under the name of "transient electronics" is about to start a medical revolution. The first step was just taken by a group of engineers at Tufts University, in the United States, who successfully tested one of these biodegradable devices. The experiment was done with mice that were implanted with a device designed to deliver drugs and treat an infection. Not only did the treatment work, but also it barely left remmants of its presence in the organism three weeks later. With only a few tens of nanometers thick, the new circuits are easily dissolved in either water or other body fluids without causing damage.

In the same line, Abbot lab has recently introduced a new "stent", a new type of coronary implant which is also absorved when is no longer useful. It has a less sophisticated technology than that of the electronic devices, but it works similarily. Stents are a mesh-like tube of thin metal wire which are placed inside the artery to keep them open and facilitate blood flow after a heart attack has occurred. Stents have been placed permanently for years. The absorbable one, made ​​of a material used in sutures, allowes the vessel to dilate and contract in a more natural way, as your body needs it. For example when you are running and need more blood flow. At the end of ist lifetime, the stent is complety disolved and the blood vessel remains open without any other extra support.

Sources:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-19737125

http://www.abbott.com/news-media/press-releases/abbott-announces-international-launch-of-the-absorb-bioresorbable-vascular-scaffold.htm