Posted 09.21.2012 at 1:15 pm
4 Comments
Ferrofluid Heart
Suprock Technologies
Today’s artificial hearts contain pumps whose spinning rotors can damage blood cells, causing clotting that can lead to strokes. A new pump design could prevent that damage by mimicking the natural movement of human tissue.
Christopher Suprock, founder of product-design firm Suprock Technologies, made the demonstration pump using flexible membranes and a ferrofluid, or magnetic liquid. Suprock injected the ferrofluid between two 0.005-inch-thick elastic membranes and placed an electromagnet less than an inch away. When the electromagnet is turned on, it attracts the ferrofluid, stretching the membrane toward the magnet. When the electromagnet is off, the membrane springs back to its original position. Suprock says his next step is to team up with a medical-device maker, refine the design, and test it in a living animal.
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thank you ^^
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bored? lets go mine the stars... ^^
Very interesting. Some questions though....what is the duty cycle ? How long would it last ? What if the membrane leaks ? Is there a way planned to have sensors that will ramp the pump activity up and down in regards to body activity ? How much power does it take ?
As garthbock points out, there are many requirements for an artificial heart -- the pumping action being one. (an important one, but so are a lot of the others).
Here's hoping, but it's a steep climb.
Since this is magnetic, it can be driven from outside the body. An advantage that should not be skipped when it comes to heart assist combined with stem cell therapy. Why not assist the heart with a shallow surgical procedure while the stem cells are used to repair and replace heart damage?