You have a Hybrid Heart
Did you realize that your heart is a hybrid; an ‘obligatory hybrid’ meaning that it needs both fuel (blood rich in oxygen) and electricity to run.
But the real mind-blow is yet to come.
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Stockholm, 1958
Dr Ake Senning had a problem, his patient Arne Larsson had a slow heart-beat, seems not to responding to medicines. He would need an artificial power generator for his heart, a electrical ‘pacemaker’. And one that’s small enough to be implantable.
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Anatomy
The human heart needs blood rich in oxygen to function, which is transported to the heart by coronary arteries (right and left). Blockage of these coronaries are what cause heart attack (myocardial infarction).
But dig deep inside the human heart, and you would find a very intricate electrical system that ensures that the heart beats at regular intervals. The power source is a small millimeter sized specialized tissue, situated in the top right chamber of the heart (the SA node), from where the electrical impulse flows out to a relay box, (the AV Node) and then, through a delicate system of electrical wires, carried down to the ventricles. A disease affecting the generator (SA Node), relay (AV Node) or the electrical wires (Bundle branch, Purkinje system) could create a electrical malfunction and slow down heart rate. The patient may feel dizzy or faint altogether. This calls for a external electrical pulse generator (pacemaker) to be connected.
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The challenge
But in 1958 the available artificial pacemakers were huge in size, needed to be connected to a wall plug to run and a cable tethered to the patient. The problem was his patient was 43 years old and needed to be mobile.
Dr Senning discussed the problem with Engineer Elmqvst and they started working together, and came up with device.
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A fully implantable pacemaker, running on battery power where by the patient could be mobile.
Now, 1-million plus pacemakers are implanted every year, the procedure has become routine. A one-hour procedure under local anesthesia, around 2 days of hospital stay and you go home. In a week’s time you are fit enough to quarrel with your wife. By the way, no need to hurry; modern day pacemakers are guaranteed to last at least 10 years, you have enough time to arm yourself.
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The Mindblow
Arne Larsson got his first pacemaker implanted in 1958 at age 43. He died in 2002, at age 86. During his lifetime he needed pacemaker generator change a whooping 22 times. But he outlived Dr. Ake Senning and Engr. Elmqvst.
A groundbraking innovation persists even beyond the lifetime of the creator.
Statutory Warning
The author is not responsible for the consequences of your quarrel with your wife, with or without a pacemaker.