Artificial myocardium with an artificial baroreflex system using nano technology.
Where is the place which should be helped in a patient with congestive heart failure? The answer may be contraction of the heart. At Tohoku University, development research of "the artificial myocardium" has been conducted, using a ball screw type electromagnetic motor. Furthermore, super-miniaturization is being attempted at present. Thus, a system with shape memory alloy is being developed. The cooling speed problem was solved by the application of the Peltier element. A drive at a speed equal to that of a heartbeat was realized by the application of this system. At present, a ventricular assist device is used for patients waiting for a heart transplant in Japan. An air driven type system disturbs a patient's QOL remarkably because it is connected to the drive device. With our concept, energy is provided by using the electromagnetic force from outside of the body by the use of transcutaneous energy transmission system. Magnetic shielding by amorphous fibers was used at Tohoku University to improve the total efficiency. A natural heart can alter the cardiac output corresponding to the demand. Artificial internal organs must participate in the system of the living body, too. Tohoku University has developed a resistance based artificial heart control algorithm, which simulated a baroreflex system to cope with every demand. Nano level sensing equipment is now under development at Tohoku University. At present, development is being conducted aiming at an "intelligent artificial myocardium".
Department of Medical Engineering and Cardiology, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, 4-1 Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8575, Japan. yambe@idac.tohoku.ac.jp
Tomoyuki
T
Yambe
Yasuyuki
Y
Shiraishi
Makoto
M
Yoshizawa
Akira
A
Tanaka
Ken-ichi
K
Abe
Fumihiro
F
Sato
Hidetoshi
H
Matsuki
Masayoshi
M
Esashi
Yoichi
Y
Haga
Shigenao
S
Maruyama
Toshiyuki
T
Takagi
Yun
Y
Luo
Eiji
E
Okamoto
Yutaka
Y
Kubo
Motohisa
M
Osaka
Shunsuke
S
Nanka
Yoshifumi
Y
Saijo
Yoshiaki
Y
Mibiki
Tasuku
T
Yamaguchi
Mune-ichi
M
Shibata
Shinichi
S
Nitta
D017704:Baroreflex; D004867:Equipment Design / Q000639:trends; D006353:Heart-Assist Devices / Q000639:trends*; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000592:standards*