Share
Blog
Print
Email
BookmarkAn artificial heart is a prosthetic device that is implanted into the body to replace the original biological heart.
See also:
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 goals 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 artificial heart would be to lower the need for heart transplants, because the demand for donor hearts greatly exceeds supply..
For more information about the topic Artificial heart, read the full article at Wikipedia.org, or see the following related articles:
Heart valve — In anatomy, the heart valves are valves in the heart that maintain the unidirectional flow of blood by opening and closing depending on the ... > read more
Echocardiography — The echocardiogram is an ultrasound of the heart. Using standard ultrasound techniques, two-dimensional slices of the heart can be imaged. The latest ... > read more
Ischaemic heart disease — Ischaemic (or ischemic) heart disease is a disease characterized by reduced blood supply to the heart. It is the most common cause of death in most ... > read more
Defibrillation — Defibrillation is a medical technique used to counter the onset of ventricular fibrillation, (VF) a common cause of cardiac arrest, and pulseless ... > read more
