British Engineer Designs Own Heart Valve Implant, Saves Own Life
28 replies, posted
[QUOTE]In 2000, Tal Golesworthy, a British engineer, was told that he suffers from Marfan syndrome, a disorder of the connective tissue that often causes rupturing of the aorta. The only solution then available was the pairing of a mechanical valve and a highly risky blood thinner. To an engineer like Golesworthy, that just wasn't good enough. So he constructed his own implant that does the job better than the existing solution--and became the first patient to try it.
The existing fix, called the Bentall surgery, requires a five-hour invasive slice-and-dice and a heart-lung bypass, after which the damaged part of the aorta is cut out and replaced with a graft and mechanical valve. But Golesworthy saw an opportunity instead of despair: Nobody had thought to use more modern technologies, namely combining MRI tests with computer-aided design tools and new rapid prototyping techniques. Golesworthy saw a chance to create an implant that would support itself and reduce the chance of blood clots, thus eliminating the need to take that dangerous blood thinner.
In two years of work, Golesworthy discovered that the hardest part of creating this new implant wasn't the actual design or construction--it was securing reliable measurements. The movement of the heart and other organs made it so different perspectives yielded totally different measurements. Luckily, the team figured out that a scan at one specific point in the cardiac cycle gave them the dimensions they needed.
The final product is constructed of polyethylene terephthalate, a standard medical plastic, and weighs less than 5g. It can be sutured directly into place by a surgeon at relatively low cost. The results speak for themselves: Golesworthy was the first recipient of his own creation, and since then, 23 others have taken the plunge, with more on the waiting list. Golesworthy sees this as not just a victory for Marfan sufferers, but a message to the medical community: "They are all biologists and medics, and they need process engineers," he said. Golesworthy wants a greater collaboration amongst the medical community and engineers, who could see solutions the doctors and biologists can't. Hopefully the medical community is listening--he's his own proof, after all.
[img]http://www.popsci.com/files/imagecache/article_image_large/articles/26-27%20EARS%20manufacturing.jpg[/img][/QUOTE]
Source: [url]http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2011-01/british-engineer-designs-his-own-heart-valve-implant-saves-own-life[/url]
Rate tool
Rated tool.
Rated zing to defib his heart.
Rated heart so he has a spare in case it doesn't work.
-snip-
This man deserves a medal.
[QUOTE=Moby-;27653944]This man deserves a medal.[/QUOTE]
Rated [img]http://static.facepunch.com/fp/ratings/winner.png[/img]
Use a heart, and if that don't work, use more heart.
[img_thumb]http://i.ytimg.com/vi/i68cEsALWt0/0.jpg[/img_thumb]
Awesome
Did he build it in a shed?
[editline]25th January 2011[/editline]
With a box of scraps?
[QUOTE=acds;27654228]Did he build it in a shed?
[editline]25th January 2011[/editline]
With a box of scraps?[/QUOTE]
Yeah, turns out it was Tony Stark.
Wow, this is amazing!
I cringed after seeing the picture. :ohdear:
[QUOTE=lead_farmer;27654245]Yeah, turns out it was Tony Stark.[/QUOTE]
I didn't expect anyone to get the reference, let alone the first post after.
Great story. It's worrying that it took someone who's not even in the medical profession to create something that worked for this treatment though.
Pretty cool, how often do you get to bring up at a dinner "yeah, designed the valve myself" tapping your chest
[QUOTE=dude2193;27656626]Pretty cool, how often do you get to bring up at a dinner "yeah, designed the valve myself" tapping your chest[/QUOTE]
when i feel like it
[QUOTE=lead_farmer;27654245]Yeah, turns out it was Tony Stark.[/QUOTE]
Stolen from me by a mere four hours.
[QUOTE=Arachnidus;27659106]Stolen from me by a mere four hours.[/QUOTE]
You can say it again. :3:
[QUOTE=lead_farmer;27659163]You can say it again. :3:[/QUOTE]
I guess you can say it's Tony Stark.
see, you get [b]NOTHING[/b]
So he designs a new heart implant for himself, which can now be used elsewhere to save other people's lives. Good man.
Engineers are good at one thing, solving complex problems with simple solutions. We're trained at learning to take a step back, take a deep breath and then fuck shit up with our minds.
Britain still has some ingenuity left.
Sorry, you need to Log In to post a reply to this thread.
