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"Science fiction is what scientists would do if they could - if they had enough grant money, enough time, and enough brains to do the wonderful things they would like to do."
- Greg Bear
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| Dixon Pump | ||
| An temporary mechanical heart to circulate blood. |
Although this is a fairly early sf reference, the first machine to replace the heart in circulating blood to the body was created in 1952 and used successfully in several different procedures. Prototypes used successfully in animals date from 1949.
| He glanced up from his work for a moment. Into the girl's chest he had plugged a Dixon pump; it had taken over temporarily the job of her uneven heart...
"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. |
| Technovelgy from Dr. Futurity,
by Philip K. Dick. Published by Ace Books in 1960 Additional resources -
|
Here's another description, this time detailing the installation process:
Dick implies that the mechanical heart is effectively a robot; it is a self-regulating device.
He punctured the rib cage and plugged the Dixon pump into the vascular system, bypassing the suspended heart. The pump went immediately to work. Blood flowed.
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Additional
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More Ideas
and Technology from Dr. Futurity
More Ideas
and Technology by Philip K. Dick
Tech news articles related to Dr. Futurity
Tech news articles related to works by Philip K. Dick
Dixon Pump-related
news articles:
- Patient Walks Out With Fully Artificial Heart
| MIT Computerized Bionic Leg Is Part Of The User |
| Bone-Building Drug Evenity Approved |
| BrainBridge Concept Transplant Of Human Head Proposed |
| Natural Gait With Prosthetic Connected To Nervous System |
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'...each of them is a neural mapping of the mind of a Tibetan monk who actually lived.'
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'... every veephone on the continent would display, over and over, two propositions.'
'Completely silent, accurate up to about twenty meters. No recoil...'
'He wore spectacles with thick wavy lenses. The spectacles were intended to make him not only half blind, but to give him whanging headaches besides.'
