Jessica Dean's Healthy Living: Smart Heart
By: Jessica Dean, KARK 4 News
Updated: October 2, 2012
It weighs less than a pound, and some believe it's the future of the artificial heart.
Not only does this device keep people alive while they're waiting for a heart transplant, it also allows them to have a normal quality of life.
For the last 30 years, artificial hearts kept thousands of heart failure patients alive.
While they are life savers, they're also big, heavy and limiting for an active lifestyle. What's worse, they don't fit everyone.
Cleveland Clinic biomedical engineers decided to improve the design, and came up with the Smart Heart, two pumps in one.
It's small and light and will fit the great majority of adults, even teenagers.
Eventually, the goal is to have the heart completely implanted so people can lead a normal life.
With about one-third of heart failure patients possibly not qualifying for transplant, this heart gives them a permanent option that could last a decade.
The heart is still in the experimental phase, but doctors believe it may be ready for humans in about five years.
Not only does this device keep people alive while they're waiting for a heart transplant, it also allows them to have a normal quality of life.
For the last 30 years, artificial hearts kept thousands of heart failure patients alive.
While they are life savers, they're also big, heavy and limiting for an active lifestyle. What's worse, they don't fit everyone.
Cleveland Clinic biomedical engineers decided to improve the design, and came up with the Smart Heart, two pumps in one.
It's small and light and will fit the great majority of adults, even teenagers.
Eventually, the goal is to have the heart completely implanted so people can lead a normal life.
With about one-third of heart failure patients possibly not qualifying for transplant, this heart gives them a permanent option that could last a decade.
The heart is still in the experimental phase, but doctors believe it may be ready for humans in about five years.
