Cardiac

Around three hundred thousand people in the U.S. are said to suffer sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) each year, so with survival rates standing at less than eight percent and brain death taking a grip just four to six minutes after an attack, every second counts. The San Ramon Valley Fire Department is therefore calling on members of the public who have been trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) to help. A new location-aware iPhone app has been developed that notifies registered users within the 155 square-mile (401.5 sq km) San Ramon Valley, California region when their skills are needed to save lives. Read More

Technology is delivering a array of health monitoring systems that can record a person’s blood pressure or perform an ECG on the go. Now researchers have turned their attention to monitoring cardiac pressure, an indicator of heart problems that can normally only be measured using an invasive procedure known as a coronary angiography. Read More

Scientists at the University of Bonn have brought new meaning to the phrase "light-hearted" with the discovery of a way to cause arrhythmia in the heart cells of mice using only blue light and a sensor in the cell wall. They hope it could be used to research the development of arrhythmia, one of the commonest causes of death after a heart attack. Read More

Remarkable new imaging technology developed by researchers at the University of Wisconsin can not only capture the heart in 3D showing blood flow, direction, and velocity, but can also show them relating to a fourth dimension - time. The procedure is fast, and requires no invasive procedures, no contrast agent or general anesthesia and could have significant consequences for patients at risk of cardiac problems. Read More

A portable magnetometer being developed at the University of Leeds could dramatically simplify and improve the process of diagnosing heart conditions. Its creators say its unprecedented sensitivity to magnetic fluctuations will allow the innovative cardiac scanner to detect a number of conditions, including heart problems in fetuses, earlier than currently available diagnostic techniques such as ultrasound, ECG (electrocardiogram) and existing cardiac magnetometers. It will also be smaller, simpler to operate, able to gather more information and significantly cheaper than other devices currently available. Read More

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in many parts of the world, including the U.S., England and Canada, so it's not surprising that bioengineers at Duke University are excited by what they believe could be an important first step toward growing a living “heart patch” to repair damaged heart tissue. In a series of experiments using mouse embryonic stem cells, the bioengineers used a novel mold of their own design to fashion a three-dimensional "patch" made up of heart muscle cells, known as cardiomyocytes. The new tissue exhibited the two most important attributes of heart muscle cells - the ability to contract and to conduct electrical impulses. Read More

The world’s very first fully implanted pacemaker, in 1958, lasted three hours before the batteries failed. It was replaced by one that lasted two days. Ultimately, Arne Larsson – surgical guinea pig – went on to receive 26 different pacemakers over the next 43 years. Now, a New York woman has become the first person in the world to receive a pacemaker that allows completely wireless monitoring, transmitting clinical data to her doctor each day via the Internet. And, if anything ever goes wrong, the doctor is alerted instantly. Read More