Modern Day Advances
Repairing the Heart
Recently, catheters were created, which are robotlike machines that can be put inside of blood vessels. When these catheters reach the heart, they can help fix arteries and abnormal holes in the heart, and they have recently been able to repair and replace heart valves.
Artifical Heart
In April of 1969, the first artificial heart was put in a human. Sadly, the patient died 64 hours later due to infection. Currently the carmat device is the first approved fake heart. This device contains batteries that last up to four hours. However the device itself is expected to last 1 year. The down side to the carmat device is the fact that you have to have a cord coming out of your chest that connects to a bag containing the batteries.
Heart Replacement
The latest advancement in heart replacement is the "heart in a box" machine. This machine makes transporting hearts easier, instead of a four hour life span in a Yeti cooler. This machine is able to keep the heart healthy for twelve hours, making transporting hearts at longer distances easier. This machine pumps blood through the heart and gives it medication to keep it healthy.
