Can you back up the heart?
Saturday, June 27th, 2009
The backup technology that you use with many of your advanced technological aspects is actually present in the biological organ of heart also. Yes, you heard it right! We’re talking about the real heart, not the human heart though, but that of a cockroach. While the human heart functions with four chambers, a cockroach’s heart has 13 chambers. In a human heart, when a single chamber malfunctions also, you get a heart attack. This is not the case with cockroach. Even if a chamber fails, the cockroach barely notices as you have enough chambers to back it up. This fact has made the cockroach the hero of modern science.
A new Biventricular pump artificial heart has been developed at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India the most premiere technological institute in India as well as across Asia. This uses a multi chamber design just as that of the heart of cockroaches, says its designer Sujoy K guha. He also adds that the new design largely improves the long term reliability as against the more traditional pneumatic models. The kind of analysis Guha gives, gives an impression that he is on a right track.
The heart has already been tested successfully on the heart of frog and Guha hopes to test it with that of a goat very soon. It is really interesting to note that this Indian artificial heart design has been inspired by the cockroach’s heart design.
Well, if this really works out successfully, this Biventricular pump artificial heart could serve as a great option for the heart patients and serve as a new life for those who’re fighting for their life against the deadly heart-related disorders and heart attacks. So, keep your fingers crossed, after all it is for the welfare of humanity!
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Tags: Biventricular pump
