Artificial Heart available for Human Trials

[pineapplebunnybounce]

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/14/busine...l?_r=1&

Fifteen years in development, the heart has been approved for clinical trials at cardiac surgery centers in Belgium, Poland, Saudi Arabia and Slovenia, where staff members are receiving training and patients are being screened, said Dr. Piet Jansen, medical director at Carmat.

[Creed of Heresy]

I saw this from I Fucking Love Science on FB, and my first thought was "I smell bionic enhancements...I smell AWESOMENESS."

[pineapplebunnybounce]

Article says it lasts 5 years. Does that mean one surgery every 5 years?

Certainly very cool though, been waiting for this to happen for a while now, artificial organs i mean.

[Psykhronic]

I approve of anything that brings cyborgs closer to reality.

[Creed of Heresy]

I think it meant the batteries last for five years, not the device itself, though maybe I misread that.

[pineapplebunnybounce]

DR. JANSEN said that one design requirement for the heart was that it last five years. The company has been doing bench tests to see whether the new heart will stand up to that level of wear and tear. “Whether it lasts five years in the patient we will have to prove clinically,” he said.

Still, better than no heart at all, I guess.

Did some quick research around google apparently if you get a heart transplant you are expected to live 10 more years. So I guess one surgery every five years doesn't sound so bad.

[Nine]

My mind immediately went here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGbfs6HZDNo

[NoraBrimstone]

So, so awesome!

[Anomalocaris]

Wasn't the first artificial heart implanted around 1980?

[Creed of Heresy]

1982, yes. But those only kept the patients alive for 112 days, and 620 days, for the two patients that received the transplants. This will last for five years, hopefully. MUCH longer period of time.