---
title: ""Nearly 4,000 people in the US are waiting for heart transplants. And…"
date: 2019-01-23
source: facebook
type: Archer T. Ships shared a link.
---

# "Nearly 4,000 people in the US are waiting for heart transplants. And…

*January 23, 2019 · Facebook*

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[https://www.technologyreview.com/s/610462/a-simple-artificial-heart-could-permanently-replace-a-failing-human-one/?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_content=2018-03-16&utm_campaign=Technology+Review](https://www.technologyreview.com/s/610462/a-simple-artificial-heart-could-permanently-replace-a-failing-human-one/?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_content=2018-03-16&utm_campaign=Technology+Review){target="_blank"}
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\"Nearly 4,000 people in the US are waiting for heart transplants. And on average, it takes about six months to get one, during which time some patients will die.\
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So researchers have been trying for decades to make an artificial heart that can be permanently implanted. But building one that imitates a real heart over a long period of time without breaking or causing infections or blood clots is incredibly difficult. One problem is that the more parts there are, the more things could go wrong.\
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To solve the problem, Sanjiv Kaul and his team at Oregon Health and Science University are developing an artificial heart with an extremely simple design---it contains a single moving piece with no valves. They believe it could be the first such device that could last the rest of a person's life.\
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Originally designed by Richard Wampler, OHSU's artificial heart creates a blood flow that mimics a natural pulse. It replaces the human heart's two lower chambers, the ventricles, with a titanium tube containing a hollow rod that moves back and forth. This back-and-forth motion pushes blood to the lungs so it can extract oxygen and then move the oxygenated blood through the rest of the body.\"\
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[https://www.technologyreview.com/s/610462/a-simple-artificial-heart-could-permanently-replace-a-failing-human-one/](https://www.technologyreview.com/s/610462/a-simple-artificial-heart-could-permanently-replace-a-failing-human-one/){target="_blank"}
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