Over 10 million people in the US and Europe suffer from heart failure each year, and prognoses are frequently poor. Medication can only briefly manage the disease; most people need a full heart transplant. The number of donor hearts that become accessible each year is minuscule compared to the number of people hoping for one, as if experiencing your heart slowly fail were not frightening enough. Some patients have no chance of finding a heart donor because of their size or blood type.
How to build an artificial heart?
For those who are waiting for a heart donation, a total artificial heart is a provisional remedy. While you wait for a transplant, you can survive for several months or even years with a mechanical heart.
You’ll probably feel better and stronger after the operation than you did before getting the total artificial heart. This is a result of the device’s support in blood circulation.
Your chance of being considered for a heart donation may increase if you acquire a total artificial heart.
How does an artificial heart work?
A pump used to substitute the damaged heart ventricles and valves is known as a total artificial heart (TAH).
Ventricles pump blood to the lungs and other areas of the body. A device known as an actuator operates the pump from outside the body after it has been inserted in the thorax. In place of a healthy heart, the pump and driver facilitate blood movement to and from the heart. You could live longer and have a higher standard of life with a complete mechanical heart.
Also read: What Jobs Can You Get by Studying Artificial Intelligence?
Also read: Artificial Intelligence vs Machine Learning: What is the Difference?
Future of Artificial Heart Technology:
The following are some of the most significant advancements in artificial heart technology.
3D-Printed Heart:
The right and left ventricles of the 3D-printed heart are made of a soft implantable substance, and it can circulate blood-like fluids. Additionally, the printed heart weights about the same as a real human heart.
Despite being a promising prototype, the 3D-printed heart can only beat constantly for intervals of 30 minutes.
Aerospace Heart:
A patient with heart failure received the aerospace artificial heart on January 13, 2021, from a medical team. HeartCon is a medical device that can circulate and transport blood throughout the body to lessen the symptoms and symptoms of heart failure. Patients with severe heart failure may survive longer and enjoy higher quality of life kudos to HeartCon.
Titanium and Magnet Heart:
An innovative artificial heart called BiVACOR uses titanium and magnets. The BiVACOR uses a single spinning disc to transport blood to the lungs and body, unlike many artificial hearts that try to replicate how an actual heart pumps blood. Since the sophisticated rotating pump is placed between magnets, there is hardly any mechanical wear.
The rest of the artificial heart is made of strong titanium because there are so few moving components. This artificial titanium heart can adjust its total output to meet the physiological requirements of each user, allowing it to pump more quickly during physical activity or be tiny enough for children.
Researchers also intend to combine this technology with wireless battery charging, enabling a surgeon to insert a battery pack into the heart.
The Ultimate Game Changer BiVACOR titanium artificial heart for Mankind:
Artificial hearts can also offer a feasible option for the rare heart transplant for people with heart failure.
The BiVACOR heart of titanium, created by Dr. Daniel Timms, is the first artificial heart, ever tested for use in human patients. Timms was a contestant for the 2023 Queensland Australian of the Year Award.
When Timms’ father passed away from heart failure in 2006, an alumnus of Queensland University of Technology who was a PhD student in biomedical engineering was driven to find a way to support those whose hearts were failing.
Artificial heart inventor Timms says, “One of the reasons I got into this field was my father had heart failure. I was 22 or 23 when I came up with this idea for a mechanical, artificial heart”.
“When my father had heart failure he would go to the Prince Charles hospital to be treated, and as I was completing my PhD, the administrators and surgeons essentially found me a room, found me a wage and I could continue developing the idea.”
When the heart fails or is less proficient at pumping blood throughout the body, it can develop a deadly disease called chronic heart failure. The disease is found to influence 480,000 Australians, and more than 60,000 new cases are diagnosed each year.
112 heart transplant procedures were carried out in Australia in 2021. Transplanting a total artificial heart (TAH) may become a medical option for patients with end-stage heart failure waiting for a heart transplant or ineligible for one.
What are the present scenarios of this BiVACOR artificial heart?
Using their experience in creating absolutely durable technology for situations where failure implies certain mortality, BiVACOR has been working with NASA since 2019. The device has allegedly been tried on a cow and other animals. The bovine supposedly not only survived, but was also able to run on a track. Additionally, as a first move toward human trials, medical experts briefly implanted BiVACOR devices into human patients having heart transplant operations last year. Before real donated hearts were inserted, custom-made devices were attached to the patients’ anatomical measurements to test their durability.
The company is currently preparing for its initial genuine human studies. The implants will be inserted into patients. They are unable to locate an appropriate cardiac donor, and their effectiveness will be observed for three months. BiVACOR hearts may eventually substitute the entire function of the patients’ hearts, giving millions of people who are in need of or waiting for heart transplants hope. If it is a success, it will solve one of the major problems facing biomedical engineering.
Conclusion:
The BiVACOR is a fully artificial human heart created to replace the malfunctioning heart of the patient. The tiny apparatus only has one moving component: a spinning disc that is magnetically kept in position and turned. The device is predicted to be incredibly durable. It is with a life expectancy of up to 10 years or more because the rotor is contactless.
To get more updates, click here.
