Incredible artificial organs
Bionic body parts are no longer exclusive to the realm of science fiction. With each passing year, researchers are finding new ways of replacing damaged organs with synthetic alternatives. Here are few of the most incredible artificial organs being researched today.
Hearts
Hearts
Artificial hearts have been around for a long time, with successful models dating back as far as the 1960’s. Even today, however, these organ replacements are only temporary, and are primarily meant to keep a patient alive while they await a transplant. But technological advancements are bringing permanent artificial replacements closer to reality. The AbioCor (above), a totally self-contained artificial heart, kept one patient alive for 514 days, while another device developed by a French transplant specialist is expected to be used as an alternative to heart transplants by 2013.
I like all implants except for the cochlear implant. Cochlear Implant industry is hurting Deaf children. Deaf babies are being implanted with the cochlear implant on the premise that they will learn speech while sign language is forbidden to those deaf children. Hearing children at same age, 2 years old can use sign language. Cochlear Implant companies are making money off deaf children. It is not a cure, it only provides a “sense of speech” but not full understanding. Cochlear implant is best for hearing adults who already learned speech not for babies.
@RS
Since you’re so against life saving surgery, what do you think about other health improving methods such as: antibiotics, cough medicine, insulin, sterilization agents, dish soap, inhalers, etc?
I bet you have something in your home that has helped all of humanity prolong their lifespan. If not, please let the world know how you’ve managed to still be alive without.
Please think before you talk.
To add to this…
Its ok to prevent the malfuctions of the body as far as our intelligence permits.
But the inevitable will eventually happen to each living creature on this planet, just as it has always happened ever since the beginning of mankind,and that is ‘death’.
I think we should all just finally accept JESUS CHRIST as the one and only final cure agains’t mankind’s every malfunction INCLUDIND DEATH.
Trust me it works.
ps: There is no side effects to this cure, in other words YOU HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE OR RISK BY TRYING HIM.
Take care friend…its all love, always…
Do you have something against the scientific method of doing good things? When did religion ever achieve any of the things that science gave us. Don’t answer with eternal life of religion. It has never been shown to happen.
Hello there – so meny great inventions – I were looking for the small kidney that anyone who need will be able to transplant in person body to stop sufering of meny. It would be a great deal but is more complicated device that plays maijor role in our body we have a big mashines that do this but size is too byg to cary it everywere – mayby some day something will change in that matter. If only at least part of billions of $ that are used for wars or space exploration could be forwarded for kidney reasarch or stopping poisoning peoples with pills that destroys this organ the world would be a beter place I know what destroyed my kidneys but no doctor willm egnoleg that I am sure there is a big coverup regarding this issue for the reason of liability and this is wrong because the pils had destroyed my kidneys after reaction to different medications I had redness on the skin blisters and burning sensation – no wonder that my kidneys are getting worst from that time and blood in my urine started to show since that time. I need a new kidneys shortly.
Have a great life everyone and be carefool of any pills not everybody is the some and for some small amount of pills can cause a big problem some time the organs shut down.
IN ALL OF THIS FRIENDS ,LET US ALWAYS REMEMBER GOD IS GOD.
Advances in medical technologies should be available to all who require them. You can bet if your Mother was in need of help… or your child… or your loved one, you wouldn’t be spouting that nonsense RS. It’s obvious that you are not physically ill and that your body is in “working order” and “normal”. Where then, do you get the attitude that all those who do not measure up to your level are not deserving of help and might be better off (for the system) dead? Who is going to decide who is old or unworthy of being helped? The young? The fit? The politicians? That’s the path the Nazis went down.
Id like 5 hp in carbon please. braided lines. and an air scoop with a blower along with over drive.
It is true these are great advancements in technology and they will definitely help some who need it – the question really is availability. Who can get these things and who can’t. Sure in Canada we have taxpayer funded healthcare but the current model is really difficult to sustain financially. Will some of this technology ultimately only benefit those that can afford it? Perhaps we will all be so healthy that the age of retirement won’t be necessary – cause medical treatment isn’t getting any cheaper and our answer to the medical system issues is simply to throw money at it.
Reading some of the comments also made me think of the “Final Destination” series of movies. In each of the movies a group of teens “escaped” death one time, but the grim reaper doesn’t give up. As hard as it is, sometimes it is just our time to go.
Every medical advancement has a cost – not just financially either. We have created vaccines and antibiotics to prevent or even cure some diseases but are now finding that “Mother Nature” can make “super bugs”. Hopefully these superbugs aren’t mother nature’s way of catching up after all the hurdles we have put up to keep ourselves going.
Would this be covered by the health system and if not how much will the cochloea cost?
The world is overpopulated but to suggest science should not attempt to find solutions to medical problems is an idiots way of thinking. the simple solution to overpopulation is just replace yourself. Do not replace your spouse (one child per family) How wonderful if a blind person could see again or a father with heart problems could suddely play and romp with his children. Our quality of life should be improved for everyone not a select few with money.
I still think the most important colaboration to this day in the integration of peanutbutter and chocolate….. gotta love Reese Peanutbutter Cups …… Hail to the Cup
what about an insulin pump^
those things are just like pancreases- an awesome invention for diabetics everywhere!
I think this technology is amazing! had an artificial aortic valve implanted 4 years ago at a young age – I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for this technology and my quality of life has vastly improved. I now spend less time (and my taxpaying money) visiting hospital and in doctors offices. I’m now able to work and therefore contribute more $$ to the taxman.
I Keep on ticking!
i know they are doing this to improve life and elongate the life of a human, but dont you think it is a bit morally wrong?
i mean its amazing that they have been able to create such a thing, but overpopulation is already becoming an issue and people have to learn to accept death. it is a natural flow of the universe, and these advancements may disrupt its natural flow.
anyway, this is just my opinion, so hopefully no hate.
id like to hear your opinions about this topic.
I understand your point, but some of these inventions are not necessarily just to let someone live who would otherwise die. Some of them allow someone who might otherwise be disabled lead a productive life and contribute to society. I think too that for parents with sick children, for example, they would feel that something like this would only be giving their child a fair chance at a normal life.
Personally, I’d feel uncomfortable calling these medical advances immoral, because they’re not actually harming anyone. (For many controversial medical practices like abortion, or stem cell research prior to the discovery of stem cells in adult humans, people are usually opposed to it because of the harm involved to human life, and/or the potential for abuse.) I’m not sure if, on the most basic levels, there’s any ethical difference between these products and the use of other medical treatments to save someone from dying. I don’t think they necessarily make people live an unnaturally long life — one could argue that if you need this intervention because you were, say, hit by a car, the fact that you’re dying in the first place is a result of man-made technology rather than nature.
I do understand your point about overpopulation, and I realize it is a real problem. I think one of the issues though is that people consider overpopulation a problem because it leads to things like starvation/famine and similar human suffering; and because it causes the depletion of natural resources and other environmental problems. Regarding the first issue, I think that saying, for example, that Unicef or the Red Cross shouldn’t help save lives because it could lead to overpopulation would actually contribute to the problems and inhumanities we’re trying to avoid. On the second topic, obviously if you’re concerned about nature, the stewardship of the earth, etc., there are positive things you can do to act on these matters separately — if you feel more strongly about this than about saving single human lives, you could contribute directly to such causes, or to education that would make the present population (over-large as it is) more aware of these concerns.
I know that as technology gets more advanced, the line between “natural” and “unnatural” gets blurred, and the question of when useful medical innovations, meant to improve quality of life, start to just represent human ego or the desire for perfection becomes very relevant. I personally feel that these inventions are essentially a positive thing because they basically allow someone to live a normal life — they don’t turn them into “super-people”, and they’re not used for vanity or other shallow reasons. Obviously, the issue of technology interfering with the natural order is much broader than the medical field, and there are no easy answers — I guess every person has to find what they’re personally comfortable with in their own life. No matter what my own decisions were, I wouldn’t feel comfortable saying that other people should boycott technology or whatever because of my own convictions, even if I were uncomfortable putting my own money or other resources into something that might influence the rate humans are populating the earth. I certainly wouldn’t be able to tell a mother with a dying child that she should let her kid die because it will decrease overpopulation…I guess that’s more emotional than logical, and if you think that’s more a symptom of my timidity rather than my ethics I plead guilty. It might be a sort of hypocrisy that I decide an individual one-on-one situation differently than I see the “big picture” (i.e. that overpopulation is a huge concern) — but on the other hand, I’d be really nervous if a government or other organization had absolutely no problem sacrifice lots of individual human lives for an abstract “greater good”.
Anyways, thank you very much for trying to have a civil discussion on such an emotional topic. I’d like to repeat what you said — that this is only my opinion, meant to contribute to an intellectual discussion rather than to offend or upset anybody.
How about a bionic wee wee? That’s like what Super Saiyan 12.
There should be a condition where these transplants are given to people who are not responsible for their plight; babies born with bad hearts,diseases we have no control over etc…
Why should some fat person get a heart transplant who has smoked, drink and eaten all the wrong foods (and have done nothing in between) be entiltled to this technology.
what i have to say about all of these health situations both in canada and the usa is not altogether good. here (for what it is worth) is the story of what my husband and i have been going through in this wonderful land called canada. in november of 2011 a worker came to our home to fill forms for our medications to be paid for for another year. okay, all of you out there that want to jump on our back now just WAIT ONE MINUTE. my husband and i are both on cpp disability. my husband has had 4 heart attacks and i have a whole host of medical and mental health problems. our total income is 21222.00 that is combined for the year. our perscriptions cost us about 7000.00 per year and along with that we have one little thing left to do and that is EAT. some people say that is a no brainer, just do not pay your bills. yeah that is a good one. wekk i have had my say on our wonderful land of pleny that we call canada – THE LAND OF THE FREE. not for us it isn,t. please let me know if there is another way of looking at this issue or you may have a solution that we may not have thought of. oh by the way WE DO NOT HAVE ANY RICH RELATIVES AND WE WILL NOT LIKELY EVER WIN THE LOTTO. TTFN AND THANX FOR LETTING ME SPOUT OFF i know my mind will sleep better tonight for having said what i did.
These artificial organs are marvels of science and medicine that can and do make lives of aflicted people much more meaningfull and productive .
That is not to mention the emotional side of people who want themselves and their loved ones to reach a ripe old age .
We are all put on this earth for a very short time and should make the most of it . Despite some of the comments here there is a need for this kind of technology as sure as there was a need to invent the wheel .
There are many unfortunate countries in the world that still don’t have the basic needs of the modern world but make no mistake they too benefit from technology from the rest of the world . They may not have our level of health care but even the tons of food and aid they recieve is because technology enaables developed countries to produce more than they need .
In a perfect world everyone should share the same standard of living but it just isn’t possible to develope other countries civilizations they have to do that themselves . We can only help and hope for the best .
You would have a completely different outlook if you were the one dying of things which are preventable today. Don’t be an idiot, it’s really insulting to people with health problems and their families.
My son had his first open heart surgery when he was 8 days old. Our family was told that if he had been born only 15 years earlier he would have been sent home to die because there was nothing they would have been able to do. At 2 months he had a stroke and was not able to have the 2 other open heart surgeries he needed in order to survive so he instead was listed for a heart transplant. He became increasingly sick while on the waiting list and after 4 months of waiting he recieved his new heart only instead of recieving a A- heart (His blood type) he recieved an AB- heart and also he was only 8 months old and the heart came from a 6 year old. So not only did he have a size mismatch, he also had a type mismatch. Which had it been even 6 years earlier he would have died on the wait list because the knowledge of transplanting infants with incompatible hearts was non-exsistent. Now just last weekend my son turned nine and he looks and IS a healthy and happy guy. WOW…. Nine years old….. over twenty years ago he would have been lucky to live to be a week old, fifteen years ago he would have only lived to maybe be 9 months old and here he is now at nine. I have big hopes and dreams for my son and I am thankful everyday that he is still here. I often am asked how long the doctors figure he will live for? (What an insensitive question) And my response has always been, “No parent wants to outlive their child.” For the parents or anyone for that matter who has donated a loved ones organs…. Thank you, I am very grateful.
Now as for artifical organs who knows what the future holds for my little man but it is a very promising world we live in and I wish for my son a happy and healthy future. And maybe in that future he will benefit from this amazing technology.
RS- I’d be willing to put money down on you freaking out like a puppy with it’s tail in between it’s legs if you were faced with a life threatning health issue. You’d be the first in line for this new tech.