Researcher Develops an Implantable "Mini Heart"

Experts are suggesting that implanting a "mini heart" that functions outside the original could help patients with chronic venous insufficiency circulate blood.

A research article published in the Journal of Cardiovascular Pharmacology and Therapeutics cleverly titled "Thinking Outside the Heart" discusses the details of a startling innovation made by a researcher at George Washington University in Washington D.C.

According to the research, Narine Sarvazyan, PhD, has managed to create a tiny cuff of heart-muscle cells that can be implanted in veins to correct impaired blood flow. Sarvazyan's article refers to this cuff as the equivalent of a second and miniature heart that would work in tandem with the original rather than replace it.

This "mini heart" is not synthetic like many may think, but rather made from a patient's own adult stem cells to eliminate the possibility of rejection after the miniature organ is implanted into the patient's body.

Experts are suggesting that this innovation could be used in the treatment of chronic venous insufficiency, where blood has difficulty circulating through the body -- often due to a faulty heart valve.

Heart valves are difficult things to repair, with surgical synthetic solutions proving largely ineffective.

Past research similar to Sarvazyan's own has suggested using adult stem cells to craft new heart valves to repair the delicate organ.

However, according to Sarvazyan, her own work suggests "for the first time, to use stem cells to create, rather than just repair damaged organs. We can make a new heart outside of one's own heart, and by placing it in the lower extremities, significantly improve venous blood flow."

Of course, this research for now remains strictly hypothetical. While Sarcazyan was indeed able to successfully craft a miniature blood-pumping organ, it will be a long time, if ever, before an implantation of one of these additional organs will ever been seen tested in humans.

Still, the innovation does indeed show researchers that there are other novel ways to address medical problems outside of simply repairing a damaged organ.

The research article was published online in the Journal of Cardiovascular Pharmacology and Therapeutics on February 4.