French Scientists have unveiled a prototype artificial heart that really works, it is based on the advanced technology of satellites and airplanes.
French cardiac specialist Alain Carpentier said his prototype artificial heart – which is shaped like a human organ and pumps blood in the same rhythm – would be ready for clinical trials and commercial production by 2011.French Scientists have unveiled a prototype artificial heart that really works, it is based on the advanced technology of satellites and airplanes.
French cardiac specialist Alain Carpentier said his prototype artificial heart – which is shaped like a human organ and pumps blood in the same rhythm – would be ready for clinical trials and commercial production by 2011.
The device could save millions of lives and beats almost exactly like the real thing using electronic sensors to regulate heart rate and blood flow.
Developers Carmat, funded by the European space and defense group EADS, presented the device at a press conference in Paris on Monday.
Carmat’s chief operating officer Patrick Coulombier told The Associated Press: “it’s the same principle in the airplane as in the body.”
Coulombier explained that the same tiny sensors that measure air pressure and altitude in an airplane or satellite are also in the artificial heart. This should allow the device to respond immediately if the patient needs more or less blood.
The French design has so far only been tested in animals, and now needs approval from its authorities before pushing ahead with clinical trials.
Previous artificial hearts have been unable to automatically vary their pumping speed and must be tweaked