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Pump Your Heart Back to Health

by Tanya Thomas on Sep 10 2008 9:19 AM

A group of American researchers claim that diseased heart can be repaired by small ventricular pumps. These pumps are mostly fit inside the patient’s body to assist the ailing organ in enhancing blood circulation.

David Bull, a surgeon at the University of Utah's school of medicine, says that ventricular assist devices can culture and deliver stem cells to regenerate the diseased heart.

Cardiac stem cells capable of regenerating heart tissue are naturally found in the blood stream in small numbers.

Bull says that he and his colleagues have developed a pump that can capture and culture these cells, and then inject them into the heart to stimulate repairs.

According to New Scientist magazine, the researchers hope that their approach can enable the regeneration of the heart sufficiently, after which the pump can be removed from the body.

Source-ANI
TAN/M


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