 |
Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
|
 |
Patient Walks Out With Fully Artificial Heart
Stan Larkin was born with an inherited heart condition; arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia, or ARVD, a disease that causes irregular heart rhythms. Last week, he became the first patient to walk out of University of Michigan hospital with an entirely artificial heart.

(UM patient with artificial heart)
It took a few days for 24-year-old Stan Larkin to get used to the sound of his new heartbeat, but now he barely even notices it.
The pumping sounds similar to a horse's quick gallop across a cold, hard trail, and can be heard from several feet away. He gets questions about it on a regular basis, and each time he calmly answers.
"It's called a Freedom driver. My heart was too weak to pump blood through my body so I got a Total Artificial Heart and the driver pumps the blood," he explained.
Stan, of Ypsilanti, wears the 13.5-pound Freedom portable driver in a backpack and hauls it around with him 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The backpack is literally what keeps Stan alive.
The Total Artificial Heart uses the Freedom portable driver to achieve true mobility for heart patients.
The FDA approved the Freedom portable driver June 26, and Stan made history by becoming U-M Hospital's first Total Artificial Heart patient to be discharged using the device. Doctors at U-M also said he's the first patient in the Midwest to be discharged on the Freedom driver.
"Until recently, patients would have to stay in the hospital until they had their heart transplant. The equipment that is outside the body, which powers the device and controls the device, was not suitable for discharge. Recently they've introduced new technology that allows these patients to go home," Haft said.
"Now that he has this artificial heart, and his circulation is maintained with this mechanical pump, he is otherwise completely healthy. He's very active, very functional, and I expect that over time he's going to get stronger and stronger."
Philip K. Dick fans have been anticipating this ever since reading Dr. Futurity in 1960:
He glanced up from his work for a moment. Into the girl's chest he had plugged a Dixon pump...
"Keep the people back," Parsons said, and resumed work. The throb of the robot pump gave him confidence; it had been inserted very well, and the load had left the girl's circulatory system.
Via Mlive.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 1/16/2015)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.
| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 0 )
Related News Stories -
("
Medical
")
Bacteria Turns Plastic Into Pain Relief? That Gives Me An Idea.
'I guess there's nobody round this table who doesn't have a Crosswell [tapeworm] working for him in the small intestine.'
Heart Patches Grown In The Lab Repair Hearts
I'm hoping that this procedure becomes a normal part of medical practice!
Pixel Watch 'Loss of Pulse Detection' And Philip K. Dick
'He carried on his person a triggering mechanism sensitive to his heartbeat.' - Philip K. Dick, 1965.
ErythroMer Artificial Blood
'My chemists are all working on the preparation of the artificial blood.' - Dr. David H. Keller, M.D.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!)
is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for
the Invention Category that interests
you, the Glossary, the Invention
Timeline, or see what's New.
|
 |
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
LLM 'Cognitive Core' Now Evolving
'Their only check on the growth and development of Vulcan 3 lay in two clues: the amount of rock thrown up to the surface... and the amount of the raw materials and tools and parts which the computer requested.'
Has Elon Musk Given Up On Mars?
'There ain't no such thing as a free lunch.'
Bacteria Turns Plastic Into Pain Relief? That Gives Me An Idea.
'I guess there's nobody round this table who doesn't have a Crosswell [tapeworm] working for him in the small intestine.'
When Your Child's Best Friend Is An AI
'Figments of his mind in one sense, of course, for he had shaped them...'
China's Drone Mothership Can Carry 100 Drones
'So the parent drone carries a spotter that it launches...'
Drones Recharge In Mid-Air Like Jets Refuel!
'...nurse drones that would cruise around dumping large amounts of power into randomly selected pods.'
Australian Authors Reject AI Training Of Llama
'It's done with a flip of the third joint of the tentacle on the down beat.'
Is China Mining Helium-3 On The Moon's Farside?
'...for months Grantline bores had dug into the cliff.'
Maybe It's Too Soon To Require Autonomous Mode
'I hope all those other cars are on automatic,' he said anxiously.
Is Agentic AI The Wrong Kind Of Smartness?
'It’s smart enough to go wrong in very complicated ways, but not smart enough to help us find out what’s wrong.'
Heat Waver - The First Ever Combo Solar Collector And Wind Turbine
'...like a spray of tulips mounted fanwise.'
Tesla 'Fleet Response Agents' Bolster FSD Autonomy
'You hate the whole idea that some bored drone pusher in a remote driving centre has got your life... in his hands.'
Mori3 Autonomous Shapeshifting Robot
'My homeland is being threatened by the Replicators. Thus far all attempts to stop them have failed.'
Tesla Seeks 'Tesla Robotaxi' And 'Robobus' Trademarks Ignoring Prior Art
'A robobus had just rolled up to the curb.'
Scary Grid Safety Robots
'The ultimate horror for our paranoid culture...'
Does AI Provide A Way Forward For Talk Therapy
'And there in the next room by the sofa sat a familiar suitcase, that of his psychiatrist Dr. Smile.'
More SF in the News Stories
More Beyond Technovelgy science news stories
|
 |