How To Live Forever

Doctors have begun human trials of suspended animation to buy more time for critically injured patients. This is reminiscent of Hollywood movies where characters wake up in steel pods during space travel having been frozen for years at a time. For more on movie realism, see our article on what Hollywood finally got right about science.

However, this is not quite the concept Dr Tisherman of the USA has meant it for. Emergency preservation and resuscitation (EPR) uses an innovative rapid-cooling procedure to suspend life, similar to how surgeons induce hypothermia during some surgeries.

Dr Tisherman’s EPR process, developed with the help of $800,000 from the Department of Defense, is mostly about resurrection. The idea at this stage is to use equipment like the catheters and pumps that can be found in any trauma centre to suspend the life of critically injured people in order to buy more time for surgeons to try to save them.

EPR works by lowering the patient’s body temperature and replacing their blood with a cold saline solution. If the human trials are successful, the aim is to take the technique out into the field. For example, a paramedic might be able to use EPR to put a dangerously ill patient into a suspended state until they can be rushed to a specialist hospital. Such a system could also be used on the battlefield to evacuate injured soldiers.

Shanghai Metal produces the carbon steel used in surgical blades. As an ISO 14001 (International Quality Management System) Company and recipient of the “Star Enterprise Award,” Shanghai Metal Corporation prides itself on exceeding international standards of quality and reliability. We guarantee the best prices, quality support, and fast delivery. To find out more, please visit our Website or send your inquiry here. Follow us on  LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel. Or you could try our new mobile app by scanning our QR code.

Source: The Economist

Siobhan R.// SMC Editor

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Save A Life…With Your Watch

A new clockwork heart pacemaker does away with batteries according to Yahoo News.  Swiss engineers, famous for making the world’s finest watches, are turning their hands to cardiology with a prototype battery-less pacemaker based on a self-winding wristwatch. Current pacemakers need for battery power is a limiting factor, since replacing them requires a surgical intervention.

“This is a feasibility study. We have shown that it is possible to pace the heart using the power of its own motion,” Zurbuchen, the head engineer said.

Automatic watches work because they have an eccentric weight that pivots when the wearer’s arm moves. This rotation progressively winds a spring that then turns the watch mechanism. In the new Swiss pacemaker, the mechanical spring unwinds to spin an electrical micro-generator.

The research is still at an early stage and there is, as yet, no schedule for human testing. However, this could prove a major innovation in both healthcare and the watch-making industries.

Shanghai Metal manufactures the Carbon Steel Strip used in clocks and watches. As an ISO 14001 (International Quality Management System) Company and recipient of the “Star Enterprise Award,” Shanghai Metal Corporation prides itself on exceeding international standards of quality and reliability. We guarantee the best prices, quality support, and fast delivery. To find out more, please visit our Website or send your inquiry here. Follow us on  LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel. Or you could try our new mobile app by scanning our QR code.

Sources: Yahoo News

Siobhan R.// SMC Editor

Read more articles by this author here.

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