So, one of the problems with artificial hearts is that it's not good to have non-natural materials in contact with blood for long periods of time. Clotting and grot-deposition is a problem, as is the junction between natural and artificial components.

How about a non-contact artificial heart? The surgeon would first dissect the aorta (or another large vessel) free of surrounding tissue, but without cutting it.

The artificial pump would consist of a series of inflatable (with air or liquid) cuffs which wrap around the aorta. Individual cuffs can be inflated squeezing the aorta) or deflated. By inflating the cuffs in sequence, from one end to the other, you'd create a peristaltic wave travelling down the aorta, pumping the blood along.

The blood would not come into contact with anything non- natural; there is no blood-tight connection to be made anywhere; and the mechanical action should be gentle on the blood cells.
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Sep 01 2015

One hose pump type http://www.flomotio.../4001V-Pump-800.jpg
There exist pumps that in theory could directly affect a major artery, without cutting into it. The link just shows one variation on the theme. [Vernon, Sep 01 2015]

Alternative artificial heart placement alternative_20artif...20heart_20placement
related [Voice, Sep 01 2015]

US 8016739 https://www.google....u/patents/US8016739
an aortic compression means which may be fully implanatable, a fluid reservoir and a pump means adapted to pump a fluid from the reservoir to the aortic compression means [xaviergisz, Sep 01 2015]

Aortic counterpulsation: C-pulse and other devices for cardiac support. http://www.ncbi.nlm...gov/pubmed/24554288
C-Pulse is a nonblood-contacting counterpulsation using an inflatable cuff around the ascending aorta, extra-aortic balloon (EAB) counterpulsation device. [xaviergisz, Sep 01 2015]

p.s. - with the right software, it might double as an implantable didgeridoo.
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Sep 01 2015


Would you remove the (presumably non-functional) real heart? What would be interesting about this is the potential for several mini-hearts situated around the body. Then, if you are doing something that subjects you to high g-forces (e.g. fighter jet pilot, astronaut) your auxiliary neck-based heart might be used to maintain blood pressure to your brain and prevent you blacking out. Or if you'd accidentally bought a pair of shoes that were slightly too big, a pair of ankle-based hearts could be used to slightly inflate your feet to make the shoes a perfect fit.
-- hippo, Sep 01 2015


The continuous aspect is something which current left ventricular assist devices do. But they are in contact with blood.

I worry that the aorta might not be that squeezable. If there is plaque then squeezing could be bad.

I thought I had read about a deal where the latissimus dorsi muscle was taken loose and wrapped around the heart, then stimulated with a pacemaker to squeeze the lazy heart from the outside. Or maybe I dreamed that?
-- bungston, Sep 01 2015


//implantable didgeridoo//

So, your heart murmur goes wwwwawwwwawwwwawwwwwwwwwww ?
-- pertinax, Sep 01 2015


//Would you remove the (presumably non- functional) real heart?//

It would depend. If it weren't blocking flow (and might even be contributing something), maybe it would be left in.

//several mini-hearts situated around the body// Yes, although they'd all have to be powered somehow.

//the aorta might not be that squeezable. If there is plaque then squeezing could be bad. // True. I guess you might have to ream it out first...

//I thought I had read about a deal where the latissimus dorsi muscle // I half-remember that also, so it may be true. Not sure that skeletal muscle is ideal for regular, repeated contractions, but maybe.
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Sep 01 2015


/skeletal muscle/

How about using the uterus! This for people who have uteri. It is strong. It is smooth. It can squeeze at least as strongly as the heart. If your heart is that bad you should not be getting pregnant. I would rather get added value out of my uterus then lose my latissimus.
-- bungston, Sep 01 2015


Holy shit Max, this is brilliant.

Like I posted after your other posting of this idea, it's basically like having a built in CPR compression system.

Has anybody ever looked into this? I'd do a quick patent search, drop a hundred bucks on a provisional utility patent then shop the idea to a couple of your closest heart surgeon friends.

This is really damned clever.

Not sure of the placement around the aorta though, I'd just stick a bag outside each chamber of the heart rather than messing with peristaltic squeezing of the actual tubes. Then you've got your built in CPR device rather than messing around with little tubes where you might damage the valves.

Compressing just the various heart chambers in correct sync would be the least obtrusive way to do this I'd think.
-- doctorremulac3, Sep 01 2015


//Holy shit Max, this is brilliant. // Awww, shucks.

//Like I posted after your other posting of this idea// I what? Am I having a senior moment?

//stick a bag outside each chamber of the heart// Actually that is a much better idea (assuming that your valves are in working order).
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Sep 01 2015


Has nobody ever thought of this before? It seems like one of those ideas that's such a no brainer, but I guess you could say that about any good idea.

As far as I know, research into fake hearts has stalled out due to the problems you mentioned. I believe patient tissue regeneration of parts is the next thing they're looking at, but something like this in the meantime...

Intriguing.

You could just have various bulbs placed around the heart or a jacket, sleve or multi chambered band around the heart that has chambers that expand or contract in sync to squeeze or release the chambers as necessary.

Did I dream it or have surgeons manually pumped hearts during surgery to keep the patient alive? I mean actually grabbed the heart and squeezed it like a rubber bulb to pump the blood through?
-- doctorremulac3, Sep 01 2015


//How about using the uterus! This for people who have uteri. It is strong. It is smooth. It can squeeze at least as strongly as the heart.//

No, Uterus is specialized for long slow contractions. Skeletal muscle is specialized for maximum force per size, if you attach them by their ends, they'll happily be so strong they'll tear themselves apart. Cardiac muscle is the one you want for ongoing contraction-relaxation cycles.

I'm not sure how the aorta would respond to repeated squeeze-relax cycles, I think that might be more stress than the gentle internal bulge it normally gets.
-- bs0u0155, Sep 01 2015


I thought a while ago that replacing the heart with a more continuous pump would be a good way of getting total blood flow up while reducing the pulsing. I reasoned that if the whole system is set up to handle peak pulse pressure, you can run it constantly at 2/3rds that, get much better total flow and preserve the system somewhat. I'll probably destroy some biological regulation mechanism though, and everything will be ruined.
-- bs0u0155, Sep 01 2015


//run it constantly at 2/3rds that, get much better total flow and preserve the system somewhat.//

That is actually a good idea. Smoothing out the flow would probably reduce the incidence of strokes caused by burst cerebral vessels.

On the other hand, maybe the peak flow helps to stop crud from building up. It's a bit like when they tell you that drinking four bottles of vodka one a fortnight helps to flush out your liver. At least I think that's what they told me.
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Sep 01 2015


When I post an idea and it's universally ignored, (or even boned and marked for deletion which has happened more than once) and then someone posts an almost duplicate idea which is showered in accolades and buns I realize the perceived quality of the idea isn't the idea itself but a combination of a particular style of persuasive writing (which I'll never be able to understand) and a social factor (which I'll also never understand). It makes me feel... something.
-- Voice, Sep 01 2015


[Voice], kudos to you for coming up with something similar, and four years earlier.

As regards writing style, I can only comment that I've applied for many research grants in my time. After getting a few of those favourably reviewed, a man stands a fair chance of getting any kind of tombollockry past the more discerning minds of the HB.

Oh, and plus I bribed [doc].
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Sep 01 2015


//strokes caused by burst cerebral vessel//

Aneurysms. You really don't want to get the treatments for those two mixed up.

//On the other hand, maybe the peak flow helps to stop crud from building up.//

Hmm, well the arterial walls have muscle that squeezes back once it's stretched. Pulse smoothing and peristalsis built in. If you plot aortic pressure vs pressure in a peripheral artery you can see the latter stretched out. Not sure about crud build up, but maybe the pulses are necessary to get the fatter immune cells through the smaller vessels, I'll ask the appropriate physiologist.

//drinking four bottles of vodka one a fortnight helps to flush out your liver//

That constitutes binge drinking, which doctors don't like. So drink the same every night, turn it into consistent heavy drinking. I pretty sure the doctors will be fine with that.
-- bs0u0155, Sep 01 2015


//consistent heavy drinking//

Good advice. At the moment, I'm following the government's "Five-a-Day" advice most days. But, increasingly, I'm finding that I tend to feel sober between drinks. I guess that's a sign to step things up a notch.
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Sep 01 2015


//Smoothing out the flow//

Is there the possibility of un-intended consequences with such a radical change of fluid delivery? Do the pulses act as "flushes" to clear the pathways? Perhaps a smooth flow would allow more buildup such as with sediment building up inside the curves of a river?

//When I post an idea and it's universally ignored, (or even boned and marked for deletion...//

Well, you're in good company. Remember, Galileo, Lincoln and that guy with the beard, what's-his-name, were all thrown in jail for saying the sun was flat or something. Rest assured that history will accurately pay homage to great minds eventually.
-- doctorremulac3, Sep 01 2015


//Galileo, Lincoln and that guy with the beard, what's-his-name, were all thrown in jail//

Salman Rushdie, I think. I am saddened when I realise that I have never once been thrown in jail, and I am now 53 years old. By the time Mozart was my age he'd been dead for 22 years.
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Sep 01 2015


It's never too late Max.
-- doctorremulac3, Sep 01 2015


I figure I've missed my chance to gain immortality by dying in my prime. I therefore plan to stick around long enough to become an embarrassment to my great grandchildren.
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Sep 01 2015


I'm at the age too where I'll get the occasional morbid thoughts like "If I get Alzheimer's and begin to lose my mind, I'll move to the jungle with nothing but a loincloth and a knife, spending my last days surviving on wild game and dying like a man!"

Of course I'll probably just think I'm in the jungle as I run around the park in a diaper chasing squirrels with a spoon.
-- doctorremulac3, Sep 01 2015


//chasing squirrels with a spoon// The squirrels would have nutcrackers, not spoons, shirley?
-- AusCan531, Sep 02 2015


It feels familiar but I consider this a good idea. The peristalsis would have to very relative to the distance away from the heart to preserve the holistic health - the natural environment the extremities are use to.

As a side thought - I am sure the crud is heat dependent (the hot blooded factor). Probably there is some, enzyme resistant, molecular sticky factor too.
-- wjt, Sep 02 2015


I wouldn't remove the nonfunctional real heart, as it's secondary function is to serve as a junction box.
-- RayfordSteele, Sep 02 2015



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