I want to live to see the day when someone climbs Mt. Everest while breathing entirely through an advanced portable ECMO-machine. We already have artificial hearts. They're typically used as a...
To that end, the lab is trying to create a mini-ECMO—a kind of wearable artificial lung. Down the hall from the conference room where I spoke to Bartlett, a research intern named Gabriele Seilo sat at a lab bench, winding grooved pucks with a gauzy plastic fabric.
I want to live to see the day when someone climbs Mt. Everest while breathing entirely through an advanced portable ECMO-machine. We already have artificial hearts. They're typically used as a stopgap for transplant. But research has been done on using them as heart replacements. And ultimately, if a portable, practical, and permanent artificial lung-heart machine could be perfected, maybe that should replace all lung transplants. If you could get the tech right and make it cheap enough, wouldn't this be better than transplants? No need to take immunosuppressant drugs for life. Parts can be maintained and replaced instead of needing a whole new organ.
I do not have anywhere near the medical or bio background to say if such a thing will ever be possible. But the idea is intriguing.
Cyberpunk 2077, here we come! Honestly though, as someone with lifelong breathing issues (Asthma mostly), and worried I may have damaged my heart with excessive alcohol / substances (in...
Cyberpunk 2077, here we come!
Honestly though, as someone with lifelong breathing issues (Asthma mostly), and worried I may have damaged my heart with excessive alcohol / substances (in treatment), knowing this is a technology that's only going to get better is quite comforting. I'm guessing by the time I might need something like this, there really will be back-pack (or better) versions.
The last part of the article talking about being able to put organs on the ECMO so you can perform corrective surgeries OUTSIDE THE BODY is wild to me. Imagine being able to do chemotherapy on an...
The last part of the article talking about being able to put organs on the ECMO so you can perform corrective surgeries OUTSIDE THE BODY is wild to me.
Imagine being able to do chemotherapy on an organ without it being in the patients body, so you don’t need to suffer the horrible side effects and can instead choose to live with a portable machine instead for a few months.
Fascinating article. ECMO kept my uncle alive years ago during an emergency bypass surgery; he'd had a 'widowmaker' heart attack, where the major blood supply to the heart itself was blocked, but...
Fascinating article. ECMO kept my uncle alive years ago during an emergency bypass surgery; he'd had a 'widowmaker' heart attack, where the major blood supply to the heart itself was blocked, but prompt ECMO/bypass saved his heart and allowed him to live on for almost 20 years longer. We're all grateful for it.
I want to live to see the day when someone climbs Mt. Everest while breathing entirely through an advanced portable ECMO-machine. We already have artificial hearts. They're typically used as a stopgap for transplant. But research has been done on using them as heart replacements. And ultimately, if a portable, practical, and permanent artificial lung-heart machine could be perfected, maybe that should replace all lung transplants. If you could get the tech right and make it cheap enough, wouldn't this be better than transplants? No need to take immunosuppressant drugs for life. Parts can be maintained and replaced instead of needing a whole new organ.
I do not have anywhere near the medical or bio background to say if such a thing will ever be possible. But the idea is intriguing.
Cyberpunk 2077, here we come!
Honestly though, as someone with lifelong breathing issues (Asthma mostly), and worried I may have damaged my heart with excessive alcohol / substances (in treatment), knowing this is a technology that's only going to get better is quite comforting. I'm guessing by the time I might need something like this, there really will be back-pack (or better) versions.
The last part of the article talking about being able to put organs on the ECMO so you can perform corrective surgeries OUTSIDE THE BODY is wild to me.
Imagine being able to do chemotherapy on an organ without it being in the patients body, so you don’t need to suffer the horrible side effects and can instead choose to live with a portable machine instead for a few months.
Mirror, for those hit by the paywall:
https://archive.ph/0GP4F
Fascinating article. ECMO kept my uncle alive years ago during an emergency bypass surgery; he'd had a 'widowmaker' heart attack, where the major blood supply to the heart itself was blocked, but prompt ECMO/bypass saved his heart and allowed him to live on for almost 20 years longer. We're all grateful for it.