Thursday, April 21, 1983/The Battalion/Page 3B
Thermal heart pumps
OMll be self-contained
z with f#
i dernan
hoppers,
l numlei
shoppers, shing to develop more adv-
roditj ced and more portable power
V to get b
ssure o(
he custonl
carapaij
y
the elision
live. El!
ed goiiij
for
o pressutt
announ
r inspea
the a
again
United Press International
RICHLAND, Wash. —
toyed by Dr. Barney Clark’s
2-day struggle on the Jarvik-7
ifidal heart, scientists are
d is avails irc es for mechanical hearts,
on syttenl'The objective is to develop a
fly implantable power source,
hoisati egrated with a blood pump,
tich can return people that
ve incurable heart disease to
moretlu oductive lives,” said Maurice
reases,ra) bite, a University of Washing-
ostsandr iphysicist who has spetit the
mhavem st la years working to develop
lortable thermal heart pump.
The idea is not just to pro-
glife, but to return people to
active life,” said White, who
ids a eight researchers
er the Is rking at the joint Center for
aduate Studies in Richland.
Clark's power source was
5 pounds of gear with an ex-
nal connecting line that he
A to be continually attatched
for powering his heart. He
dropped ddn’t go back to his dental
ictice.”
trade ah Bycontrast, he said, a thermal
)f the |i *rt pump could he implanted
o a person’s pelvic hone and
toMem! : P an artificial heart operat-
for up to eight hours after
hour of recharging.
Funded by grants from the
tional Heart, Lung and
K)d Institute, White’s team is
working on an adaptation of the
Stirling engine, which uses mol
ten salts as an energy source.
Melted salts are used to retain
heat as a source of energy, he
said.
“Once it’s melted, all the ener
gy you put in to melt the salt is
stored for later use. So the reci
pient would have to be plugged
“The idea is not just to
prolong life, but to re
turn people to an active
life. ” — Maurice White,
physicist
into an external power supply
for one hour a day (to remelt the
salts.)”
Two possible recharge
methods are being studied.
One wotdd employ a connec
tor passing from the internal
pump through the skin. He said
“the virtually invisible connector
could he plugged in to wall or an
automobile cigarette lighter.”
Using the other method, a
small electrical coil would he im
planted under the skin.
“When you are ready to re
charge, you have another coil
bad ■
enes.
feel the jj
ishy waslv
for Juan
way, too,i
ay home.
Mexico.
rst
-8073
site, Paw
n, DCE
IVY:
M&W
9:30 AM
:30 AM
J
-9:10 AN
,9:15 AN
it 5:00PM
ms
Artificial veins
low are possible
I United Press International
jALT LAKE CITY — Small
lificial blood vessels will soon
« l the man-made heart as
^IClIdl ither University of Utah con-
mtion to replacing worn-out
rts of the cardiovascular
k Parkwif, [em.
The plastic veins and arteries,
ail enough for use in coron-
I bypass surgery or to help
ean injured limb, are consi-
ed an important advance
rthe large Dacron implants
d for nearly 20 years to patch
major vessels.
Doctors say the Utah veins
a new polyurethane-type
jurw/j terial that has apparently
Sg >ed the problem of blood
tingin small-diameter plastic
sels.
)r. Donald J. Lyman, a pro-
lor of bioengineering, and
Dominic Albo, an associate
fessor of surgery, have re
ed permission from the U.S.
)d and Drug Administration
||J implant the vessels in hu-
ns.
it Lined^ ,yman and Alho developed
ie vessels for the university’s
medial Engineering Center
Polymer Implants. The cen
ts independent of the Divi-
h of Artificial Organs, which
esponsible for the Utah artifi-
Iheart program.
ugh
Mill
lege
jgh-
jstie
life
s to
Mill
3ky-
ght
img
de.
ach
vally
uout
$
you
t/BH"
and
you
eqe
VNl
GAAP
V.
heater a.vxiai. accoiwiaatis
PLAYDAY IS COMING!
Monday, April 2stii
Accounting & Business Majors
This is your day to meet and have fun with accounting
Professionals.
Events: Golf Tournament TO
Tennis Tournament
5-K Run
Banquet (Prime Rib)
WE NEED CADDIES TOO!
sponsored by the Accounting Society
• Signup in Lobby of A&A.. .NOWS
that you put over it that would
transfer electrical energy across
the skin,” he said.
The electric motor is being
studied at five other research
facilities as another way to pow
er a portable heart pump.
But, White said, “Thermal is
better because the bottom line
for the recipient is he has to he
connected to an outside power
source three hours a day (with
the thermal pump) compared to
23 hours it day with an electrical
system.”
I he drawback to the thermal
pump is time; they aren’t ex
pected to he ready to drive hu
man artificial heart lor another
six years. The electrical pumps
are expected to he tested on hu
mans sooner, possibly within
two to four years.
John Moise, president of
Nimbus Inc., a California com
pany, said one of his company’s
electrically-powered devices has
already been used successfully
on a calf for 77 days.
Nimbus, which has received
$2 million in government
grants, is testing both electrical
and thermal heart pumps.
Moise and other researchers
say heart pumps of the future
will probably he used more often
to power blood pumps t hat assist
diseased hearts, instead of com
plete replacement artificial
hearts, such as the one tested on
Clark.
“Hay there!“
staff photo by Guy Hood
Kirsten Walsh throws out some coastal hay for the
wet mares, keep across the street from Olsen Field.
Keven Hertel, a senior animal science major from
Beaumont, holds on to Silk and Satin, as they wait
patiently to finish their chores. Walsh is a juinor
animal science major from Chicago, Illinois. The
horses and wagon are used because they don’t tear
up the pastures and also provide superb traction
Albo said artificial arteries
would give heart surgeons an
alternative to removing a vein
from a patient’s leg and using it
as a bypass for blocked coronary
arteries.
“Some patients do not have
satisfactory veins for trans
plants,” he said. “And even
when the veins are good, this
procedure significantly in
creases operating time.”
Another major application
would be surgery to save a badly
damaged limbs. Arms, legs,
hands and fingers often must be
amputated because crushed
arteries cut off blood flow to the
limbs. Existing plastic tubes are
too big to help, but the Utah ves
sels could replace the small
arteries needed to keep a limb
alive.
Lyman said his development
of a new polymer molecule is the
key to the Utah vessels, which
can be made in tiny diameters.
The researchers have success
fully tested synthetic arteries as
small as 4 millimeters (about
one-sixth of an inch) in diar
meter.
“Since the 1960s surgeons
have been using Dacron im
plants to replace Targe-diameter
vessels,” said Albo. He said the
large vessels are 8-to-30 milli
meters in diameter.
Good friends will be there
come hell or high water.
»mw A Aw ■
#l\ • T .Ytv i.
L i'
Lowenbrau. Here’s to good friends.
c 1983 Beer Brewed in U.S A. by Miller Brewing Co.. Milwaukee. Wl