Texas Heart Institute

For the first time, the fully mechanical heart made by BiVACOR, which uses the same technology as high-speed rail lines, has been implanted inside a human being. The feat marks a major step in keeping people alive as they wait for heart transplants.

​​​​A beating heart relies on a healthy circuitry of electrical signals to maintain a steady rhythm. Scientists are now reporting a new potential treatment for when things break down, using fine carbon threads as electrical bridges to keep the signals circulating. ​

Ordinarily, when patients require a total or partial replacement of their esophagus, tissue from their own stomach or intestine is used. Now, however, scientists have come a step closer to being able to grow a new esophagus from the patient's own stem cells.