

A pulse no longer necessary for life - mikecane
http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-pulse-longer-life.html

======
artmageddon
While I'm all for the advancement of science, am I the only one who feels that
concealing a vital sign of life is more or less a bad idea? If a person stops
breathing, one of the first things a medical responder will do is check for a
pulse. I imagine this will be important for the target market.

I could see these also being desired by prisoners wishing to escape
confinement by hiding in an exiting truck or perhaps enemy combatants who hope
to not be detected by heartbeat sensors(if those even really exist).

~~~
khafra
I wonder if any competitive shooters have one. Combine it with a closed,
continuous carburetor for oxygenating the blood like in Sjambak[1], and you'd
have quite the super-sniper.

[1] <http://www.gutenberg.org/files/30002/30002-h/30002-h.htm>

~~~
mdaniel
That's actually a very crafty idea.

I actually would have thought that the breathing cycle was more disruptive to
a shot than the pulse.

I have also wondered if there is a place in that area for the use of
gyroscopes. I can't remember if it was a news article or a novel, but my
recollection is that shooting from helicopters employed gyros.

------
hugh3
I know that a company called VentraCor was testing pulseless artificial hearts
in sheep at least eight years ago.

I just went looking for their website to post here, but apparently they've
shut down. On further googling it turns out that they shut down in 2008 when
three out of their 188 human test subjects dropped dead due to their hearts
accidentally coming unplugged. Whoops.

~~~
chashaz
Hmm..very interesting technology. Is it the beginning of immortality?

Just for the laughs, this reminds me of the fictional Umbrella Corp. and may
be this could end up being the real life version of Resident Evil? :P

------
scythe
Hasn't Dick Cheney had no pulse for a while now?

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_cheney#Health_problems>

~~~
JoachimSchipper
Wikipedia says that this is literally true (check the last sentence) - it's
not some kind of "Dick Cheney is a heartless bastard" joke. So please hold off
on the downvotes (parent was at 0 when I posted).

~~~
scythe
Yeah, I wasn't going after the guy (this time), though I admit I originally
learned that on the Daily Show and just did a quick confirmation-check before
I posted.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ventricular_assist_device> \-- looks like
centrifugal pumps have existed for at least long enough for someone to write a
Wikipedia article about them.

~~~
jdthomas
Cheney has the Heartmate II (the same device the researchers used two of in
this project). It is an axial flow as opposed to centrifugal pump. The first
back non-pulsating heart assist device I could find is the hemopump:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemopump>

------
joezydeco
How does the advice adjust for increased oxygen demands, like when you're
exercising?

~~~
majmun
don't think exercise is allowed. But it would be cool if RPM's of rotor are
automatically regulated with possibility of manual tuning. if it was better
than normal heart everyone would want to have it.

------
bh42222
This a re-print of a PhysOrg.com article. I tried to find a non-PhysOrg.com
site, but PhysOrg.com links to medicalxpress.com

I'm guessing PhysOrg.com is picking up on the fact that people are starting to
see their writing as over-hyped and unreliable. Thus a new .com address.
Shame, all they have to do is just write _well_ and we'll like them. Talk
about going the wrong way.

------
cappaert
The Economist published an interesting article about the device (LVADs) a week
or so ago: <http://www.economist.com/node/18750728?story_id=18750728>

Turns out they've been around since 1994. And yes, Dick Cheney is without a
heartbeat.

------
bpick
I posted this yesterday, IMO Npr's write-up is more interesting:
[http://www.npr.org/2011/06/13/137029208/heart-with-no-
beat-o...](http://www.npr.org/2011/06/13/137029208/heart-with-no-beat-offers-
hope-of-new-lease-on-life)

------
torstesu
Fascinating. Similar experiments, but in a bit more disturbing and somewhat
cruel setting, was carried out by Russian scientist in the 1940's.

Please be aware that the link provided contains a video which is disturbing to
the public in general and pet owners in particular.

<http://www.archive.org/details/Experime1940>

------
sdfjkl
Isn't this in some ways performing better than a normal human heart? A pump
with a constantly rotating mechanism seems more suitable to pumping liquid
than a contracting bag of meat and muscle.

I'd give it about ten years before athletes get banned from getting a high
performance "sport edition" heart.

~~~
DasIch
You still need to power it somehow and anything that affects electrical
systems might kill you.

In sports your heart is a lot less relevant than your lung capacity. You are
more likely to end up with not enough oxygen than your heart not being able to
pump your blood fast enough.

Which is another problem, there is a reason your heart doesn't beat at full
speed: How well does a pump regulate the blood flow?

~~~
rayval
One could have a Nike-style sensor in the shoe, connected via bluetooth, with
a manual override of some sort. Plus a smartphone-based accelerometer and
gyro.

~~~
ohyes
Yes, just replace the brainstem with an ever increasing amount of hardware.

Of course, it will be problematic when you accidentally leave the wireless on
your smartphone turned on and kill the battery.

------
swah
Guess one will have to devise another method to check for anxiety.

