This Pacemaker Membrane Can Keep A Heart Beating Perfectly

You’re looking at what might be the pacemaker of a decade from now: a custom-made membrane, developed by researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Washington University in St. Louis, that slides over a heart and keeps it regulated by a network of sensors and electrodes.

This is a rabbit’s heart, but the building process would be similar for people: a team computer-modeled the heart, 3-D printed a mold, and created a membrane tailored to the organ. The sensors make sure the heart stays beating at a proper rate, and the electrodes automatically correct any discrepancies, like an arrhythmia.

And, yes, unlike this one, a real one stays inside your chest.

[St. Louis Public Radio via Sploid]