Page 32 - 4th edition Nayi Udaan
P. 32
Technology Around us
BiVACOR
BiVACOR
An artificial titanium human heart
BiVACOR is a new and novel total changes in the patient’s activity.
artificial heart which utilise a single DURABLE… as an anticipated device life if
centrifugal magnetically levitated upto 10 years or more.
motor featuring a pulsatile flow. This SMALLL… as it is small enough for a child,
device has been tested in cattle with and powerful enough for an adult.
encouraging 90-day results. PORTABLE… as it contains a small external
controller and batteries to give patients free-
HOW DOES IT WORK? dom.
The Technology of biVACOR includes:
The design includes left and right vanes posi- A single moving part which involves two
tioned on a shared rotating hub to form a centrifugal impellers placed on a single rotor
double-sided magnetically and hydro-dy- provide perfusion to the left and right sides
namically suspended centrifugal impeller. of the body.
The performance of device was assessed in a Its specially designed pump lades allow
pulsatile mock circulation loop replicating high flows and low power consumption.
end stage bi-ventricular heart failure, and Active magnetic levitation provides precise,
was shown to restore flow from pathologi- stable operation with no mechanical wear.
cal(2L/min) to normal levels(5L/min). The BOOM FOR HEART PATIENTS:
rotating hub is levitated and rotated via an Since heart diseases are considered to be a
electromagnetic motor and bearing arrange- very fatal disease affecting a very large popu-
ment on top of the pump casings. lation due to decrease in physical activities
The dedicated hydraulic design of the and busy human lives in cities. Some patients
impellers, combined with state-of-the-art might require heart transplant if heart is
magnetic levitation (MAGLEV) technology, failing and other treatments are not effective.
permits control of the circulation to be The heart failure does not mean that the
fine-tuned by means of a differential fluid heart is about to stop beating. Here the term
output. The unique ability of the device is to failure means the heart muscle is failing to
mimic the frank-starling effect and prevent pump blood normally because it is damaged
ventricular collapse, by altering the left/right or very weak, or both. The number of donor
chamber outflows with impeller axial hearts that become available each year is
displacements in response to chang- tiny compared to the number of people
ing venous return. waiting for one.
Its features includes:
POWERFUL… As The centrifugal For some patients, their size or
pumps can provide high flows over blood type means the chances of
12lpm for dynamic activity. Nisha Chetan finding a donor heart are virtually
TGT Natural Science
SMART… As smart controllers G.S.K.V. No.-2, BLOCK-C, zero. Therefore BiVACOR seems to
adapt the pump operation to YAMUNA VIHAR, DELHI be boom for such patients.
30
