Amazing Inventions That Innovate Medicine

The Latest Awesome Innovative Inventions That Will Improve Medicine – 2014 – read about the newest innovations in the medical field

First, the device that will prevent heart attacks:

1. The Electronic Device That Will Make The Heart beat forever

This incredible electronic membrane looks like a glove and covers the cardiac muscle with a web of sensors and electrodes.

The merit belongs to researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Washington University in St. Louis. They used computer modelling technology and 3D printers to create this electronic membrane.

The researchers managed to create a fully functional prototype that they used to cover a rabbit heart. The amazing electronic glove was able to keep the heart from stopping and in good conditions outside the body. However, the heart was kept outside in a solution rich in nutrients and oxygen.

For this heart membrane, it will be used a high-resolution imaging technology. Thanks to this technology, the membrane will fit the size of the heart. The electronic glove can easily replace the traditional pacemakers and defibrillator technology.

Igor Efimov from Washington University says that the glove membrane will be able to sense when arrhythmia or heart attack will occur. It can apply a HD therapy. The glove can apply electric stimuli in different regions and stop a sudden heart attack.

For now, the electronic device is only useful in researches and in studies that concern the circulatory and cardiac system. In the future, we expect to use this device in prevention for patients who present a high risk of heart failure.

This is a huge step in overcoming a very common health problem. It’s well known that, worldwide, that annually more that 25% of the deaths are due to cardiovascular diseases. They also include in a huge number the heart failure.

Below you can watch a video about the electronic glove that keep the heart safe:

2. The Silk Bone Screws

The screws made of silk are the invention of Samuel Lin from Harvard Medical School and David Kaplan at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts. They made several researches over silk and molded the material into screw shapes. It might sound weird, but the silk screws are stronger than it seems and they can fix fractures and bone problems.

When the silk is stretched it becomes as strong as steel. Thanks to this important property, the screws can cut through bones.

They are the best alternative to all previous suturing methods. The metal can corrode, and they need a second intervention. Other biodegradable alternatives can cause severe inflammation while the polymers are to soft and need drilling the bone.

The silk screws are the only bone screws that are strong enough, naturally biodegradable and while they biodegrade don’t cause inflammation. For now, the studies had as targets only mice. The researchers hope to undergo clinical trials in the close future. We believe this is a huge step in medicine and solving skeleton system problems.

Below you can view the video about the silk bone screws: