The Perfect Artificial Heart Just Made...And It Doesn't Even Pump!

Courtesy of the Texas Heart Institute
This is an X-Ray of Lewis with his rotor heart implants

The medical community was taken by storm this week with news from the Texas Heart Institute about their new robotic heart. It's so amazing, in fact, that you'd never even know if someone is equipped with it, because it's completely silent and doesn't produce a beat. Instead, it uses fan-like rotors which circulate a person's blood throughout their body producing a continual, smooth flow, similar to water flowing through a pipe.

So why is this such a revelation? You wouldn't believe it, but this is the first time medical researchers have ever even conceived the possibility of having a heart that doesn't beat! This was a big problem because they would always attempt to replicate the heart, creating very complex machines which failed frequently. By contrast, the new rotor heart has only one moving part (the rotor...in case you haven't caught on), and as such lasts much longer and works more reliably. Moreover, it "[reduces] the chance of infection or other complications."


Now, with every great medical find comes an equally great success story, and here it is:
Craig Lewis was a 55-year old man who was "dying from amyloidosis, a disease that causes buildup of  abnormal proteins that clog the organs until they stop functioning." When doctors gave him only 12 hours to live, he decided to give the experimental heart a try. Although he died two months later of complications in other major organs, Mr. Lewis far exceeded his doctors' expectations, and proved the 'roto-heart' to be an excellent alternative to the more conventional, pumping heart.


Sources: http://www.npr.org/2011/06/13/137029208/heart-with-no-beat-offers-hope-of-new-lease-on-life
http://news.discovery.com/tech/hearts-with-no-beat-pulse-could-save-lives-110614.html