Word: ventricular
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...surgeon Dr. Michael DeBakey when he had an idea: What about using the technology in the pump that powers the space shuttle to create a heart pump for patients? Saucier talked to Baylor College of Medicine physicians, and for almost two decades NASA and DeBakey worked on a mini ventricular device. The size of a pink beveled eraser, it helps adults and children survive for up to two years while awaiting a transplant...
That's why it's such good news to hear that another type of mechanical pump, called a left ventricular assist device, may be a viable alternative. Instead of replacing the heart entirely, the lvad attaches to the organ's left main chamber, boosting its output. The pump is twice as likely as drugs to keep patients alive after one year, according to a study that was published in the New England Journal of Medicine and presented last week at the American Heart Association meeting...
Meanwhile, doctors have had growing success with a different kind of mechanical pump, called a left ventricular assist device (LVAD), that is also implanted in the body but helps boost the heart's output without replacing the organ. In some cases the ailing heart gets enough rest on the LVAD that it no longer needs artificial support. Researchers are trying to figure out if they can nudge that process along, perhaps by using stem cells to stimulate healing...