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Re:Maglev Heart Could Keep Cardiac Patients Alive by Someone on Thursday August 22, 2019 @11:52AM (#20769440)
So, is this a solution where patients who get this implanted won’t have a heartbeat?
Re:Maglev Heart Could Keep Cardiac Patients Alive by dexen on Thursday August 22, 2019 @12:46PM (#20769970)
Heartbeat in artificial hearts is a problem, and a lot of thought and expenses are put into avoiding it. Both the pumping action, and the opening/closing of the valves, and also the blood flow disturbances cause damages to blood cell, and promote clotting. Nb, the later two are also relevant to artificial valves, which is why specialist materials & configurations are being used.

Any moving or flexing part is subject to wear and tear, and the risk of eventual breakdown, necessitating replacement surgery every few years. Open heart surgery is involved, somewhat risky, and puts the organism under significant stress by its very nature.

To the best of my (layman's) knowledge, pulse is not really needed by the body, and using smooth flow pumps causes no health risk. Of course there's the inability to check for the pulse or its tempo, as well as the mental impact of not having the expected sign of being alive.

Re:Maglev Heart Could Keep Cardiac Patients Alive by fishtacos on Thursday August 22, 2019 @12:11PM (#20769615)
They've recently implemented pulsing capability into the artificial heart.

If this becomes successful, I can see doctors adjusting to other methods of measuring heart activity, but I don't see how they could be noninvasive.

Re:Maglev Heart Could Keep Cardiac Patients Alive by ars on Thursday August 22, 2019 @12:02PM (#20769535)
Answer: No. It talks about that in the article.
Re:Maglev Heart Could Keep Cardiac Patients Alive by Herodotus38 on Thursday August 22, 2019 @12:31PM (#20769798)
Look up LVADs which are already in use, no pulse, no systolic or diastolic blood pressure. There's a hum when you listen to their heart.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ventricular_assist_device

Re:Maglev Heart Could Keep Cardiac Patients Alive by wbl on Thursday August 22, 2019 @12:00PM (#20769518)
Dick Cheny is doing just fine without one.
Re:Maglev Heart Could Keep Cardiac Patients Alive by aladoc99 on Thursday August 22, 2019 @12:14PM (#20769645)
He rejoined the pulse-bearing mass of humanity when he received a heart transplant in 2012.