Open Heart Surgery Not Needed For New Cardiovascular Pump
May 30, 2006 by Lei
Filed under Diseases & Conditions
Open heart surgery is one of the most invasive surgeries performed. So it is no small feat feat to develop a heart pump that can be placed in the heart via an artery in the groin. Doctors at the Institute of Bioengineering at Brunei University and Royal Brompton Hospital are hoping to make their new technique available to the public soon.
The pump is mounted on a stent and then fed on a deflated balloon through an incision in the groin into the upper aorta, a large artery that carries blood from the heart.
As well as helping the left ventricle – the heart’s main pumping chamber – to pump newly oxygenated blood around the body the device is also designed to increase blood flow to the cardiac muscle itself.
It is powered wirelessly via coils placed on the skin attached to an external battery pack.
BBC News, May 30, 2006
