Skip to main content

A PACE MAKER [POWERED BY HEART BEAT

Swiss engineers have invented a pacemaker based on an clockwork wristwatch which is powered by the motion of the heart.
The prototype, which has been successfully tested in pigs, could mean that patients no longer have to undergo repeat surgery when the batteries in their device run out.
The invention, presented to the European Society of Cardiology Congress in Barcelona, is based on the concept behind a self-winding wristwatch.
Currently pacemakers, which are used to help the heart beat more regularly, need to be replaced on average every seven years, when batteries fail
More than 40,000 people a year are fitted with pacemakers in England.
The devices are used for patients with unusually fast, slow or irregular heart rhythms.
The new model, stitched directly on to the heart, is based on the concept of automatic clockwork developed by Swiss watchmakers in 1777 and generates electrical current using the movement of heart muscle. 

Automatic watches work because they have a rotor, which pivots when the wearer's arm moves.
This rotation progressively winds a spring that then turns the watch mechanism. In the pacemaker, the mechanical spring unwinds to spin an electrical micro-generator.
Adrian Zurbuchen of the University of Bern's cardiovascular engineering group, told the conference: "Batteries are a limiting factor in today's medical implants. 

Once they reach a critically low energy level, physicians see themselves forced to replace a correctly functioning medical device in a surgical intervention.
"This is an unpleasant scenario which increases costs and the risk of complications for patients."
Other research teams are investigating ways to get rid of batteries in pacemakers by transmitting power through the body from an external source - but the idea of using clockwork is novel.
Mr Zurbuchen said the Swiss researchers, led by a cardiologist and engineer, had turned to concepts which had been around for more than two centuries for inspiration. 
The heart seems to be a very promising energy source because its contractions are repetitive and present for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week,” he said.
“Furthermore the automatic clockwork, invented in the year 1777, has a good reputation as a reliable technology to scavenge energy from motion." 
 Researchers successfully tested the system in pigs, regulating their hearts to a steady 130 beats per minute. 

"We have shown that it is possible to pace the heart using the power of its own motion,” he said. 
Plans  has   yet  to   be  drawn  up  to  test  in   humans. 








Comments

Popular posts from this blog

KEY BOARD SHORT CUTS

While   surfing  the Web,  these commands  could  help  you  and  are absolutely worth learning. By making repetitive motions faster, web surfing becomes so easy  and    pleasant! The following shortcuts can  be   work with desktop versions of Chrome, Firefox, and IE. CTRL-T to launch a new browser tab page. Tabbed pages are very useful: they let you open multiple web pages simultaneously without the same memory load as a full browser window.  Simply press CTRL-T to launch a new tab. Related: use CTRL-Page Up and CTRL-Page Down to navigate between the tabs.  CTRL-Enter to type 'www.' and '.com' Once you ...

THE BEATLES -ENGLISH ROCK BAND

The Beatles were an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The group, whose best-known lineup comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, are regarded as the most influential band of all time.   The Beatles    were  from    Liverpool, United Kingdom.   In September of 1962 The Beatles recorded their first hit Love Me Do, which charted in UK, and reached the top of the US singles chart. London became their new home since 1963. ... Their October 1963 performance at the London Palladium made them famous in Great Britain and initiated the Beatlemania in the UK.   The most popular Beatle.   Paul McCartney ranked highest, at 35 percent; following by John Lennon (29%), Ringo Starr (11%), and George Harrison (8%). However, there is a gender gap: men favored John, while women preferred Paul.   The Beatles' first record "Love Me Do" was released on October 5, 1962. It was a mode...

Bacteria

  Bacteria   are   the   most   plentiful   living  organism   on  the  Earth.They   are  the  most  smallest    organism ,each  consisting   of  a   simple ,  single  cell.A   few   types  of  bacteria ,called  germs ,cause  diseases    in  humans .But   most  bacteria     are   harmless,  some  are   very  useful.They   used  in  making  drugs   and  foods. Bacteria    reproduce   by  binary   fission(splitting  in  two). Reproduction    by     division   means  that  bacteria  can   multiply  very  quickly,if  the  conditions...