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Discuss “How Things Work: Mechanical hearts”

According to the Current Science and Technology Center, 16,000 Americans are in need of a heart transplant. Only a couple thousand of these patients, though, receive treatment.

Shortages in treatment for heart-failure patients has led researchers to develop mechanical hearts that are capable of doubling people’s life expectancies.

But what all goes into a mechanical heart? There is more than just nuts and bolts to a device that keeps people living.

William Devries developed the first replacement heart in 1982, called the Jarvik-7.

This aluminum and plastic device is driven by air that travels from an external compressor and into the patient’s chest through external wiring.

The Jarvik-7 replaces the left and right ventricles of the...

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