Technology Updates: Bionics Heart (Virtual heart) Part I

Bionic is a term which refers to the flow of concepts  from biology to engineering and vice versa. It is the
application  of  biological methods and system found  in  nature  to  the  study  and  design  of  engineering
systems and modern technology. Bionic was coined by  Jack  E.  Steele  in  1958,  originating  from  the
technical  term  bion,  meaning  ‘unit  of  life’  and  the  suffix  ic,  meaning  ‘like’,  hence  ‘like  life’  is  the
meaning of the term bionic.  The main aim of bionic technology is to help people  with  disabilities  or  augment  their  existing  abilities.  Some of the important developments under way are  cochlear  implants,  eyes  that  transmit  electronic  signals  to
 the  brain,  artificial  limbs  that  use  signals  from  a  person’s  own  muscles,  artificial  cardiac  pacemakers,  skin  replacement  with  tissue  engineering  and  microchip  implants  for  the  brain. It  is  the  way  of  replacing  the  damaged  or  missing part with natural or synthetic substitutes. The bionic heart weighs about 2 pounds and is made  of  titanium  and  plastic.  It  can  pump  more  than  10 liters  of  blood  per  minute,  which  is  enough  for everyday stuff like walking. This works in a different way from a real heart. A real heart can pump blood to  the  lungs  and  the  body  on  each  beat.  It  sends blood to the lungs and then to the body every other beat, instead of both at the same time. This helps to keep the artificial heart small, and there is still plenty of blood flow for normal life.

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The heart is a hollow, muscular organ,roughly of size of  one’s  fist  (12*9cm)  and  about  300  grams  in weight.  It  is  somewhat  conical  in  form.  It  is locate almost  in  the middle  of  the  thoracic  cavity  close  to front  wall  and  between  the  lungs.  The  heart  is enclosed  in  a  tough  sac,  the  pericardium. Pericardium consists of an inner serous pericardium and an outer fibrous pericardium.  The  heart  pumps  the  blood  to  all  the  parts  of  the body.  It  pumps  out  over  7,000  litres  of  the  blood daily. The heart contracts more than 2.5 billion times in a lifetime. To pump out blood, the heart chambers undergo  alternate contraction  called  Systole  and relaxation  termed Diastole.  The  contraction  of  a chamber  decreases  its  volume  and  the  forces  the blood out of it,whereas its relaxation bring it back to its original size to receive more blood. A  regular  sequence  of  three  events:  Auricular Systole;  Ventricular  Systole;  Joint  Diastole;  The sequence  of  these  three events  during  the completion  of  one  heartbeat  is  known  as  Cardiac Cycle. These events are repeated in a cyclic manner during  each  heartbeat,  and  make  the  blood  flow through the heart chambers in a specific manner and direction.  The  time  required  for  one  complete cardiac cycle is 0.8 sec.

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Heart  Sounds: The heart produces four sounds. Out of these, the first two sounds can be easily detected
using a stethoscope. The third and fourth sounds are difficult  to  detect  clinically  but  can  be  heard  found
graphic  records.  The  first  and  second  sounds  are close to each other and the second sound is followed
by  a  pause.  Hence  the  sequence  is:  first  sound, second  sound  pause;  first  sound,  second  sound
pause and so on. The heart sounds are caused due to vibration of levels of valves during closure; and  due
to  turbulent  flow  of  blood  due  to high  pressure changes.An  electrical  system  of  the  heart  that  controls  how fast it beats. Human heart beats at the rate of about 72 per minute, the range being 70-80 per minute in adult males. The heart rate is slightly higher in adults females.  It  is  highest  in  new  born  an  gradually decreases  until  teenage;  but  in  old  age  it  again slightly increases.  Considerable defects: Due to the over-activity in the parasympathetic nervous system or  decrease  in  the sympathetic  nervous system,  the  pace  or  speed  of the  heartbeat  decreases.  This  state  of  decreases  in the  pulse  rate  of  heart  is  termed  as  ‘bradycardia’. Bionic heart is designed with a view to command this disease.

This is some basic about human heart in my next post i will continue the topic how we can implement a bionic heart and how it will look like.

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