Untitled Essay Research Paper Artificial Heart Devices

Untitled Essay, Research Paper

Artificial Heart Devices In its never ending pursuit of advancement, science has

reached a crucial biotechnological plateau, the creation of artificial organs.

Such a concept may seem easy to comprehend until one considers the vast knowledge

required to provide a functional substitute for one of nature’s creations.

One then realizes the true immensity of this breakthrough. Since ancient

times, humans have viewed the heart as more than just a physical part of

the body. It has been thought the seat of the soul, the source of emotion,

and the center of each individual’s existence. For many years, doctors

and researchers left the heart untouched because they thought it was too

delicate, too crucial to withstand the rigors of surgery. However, the innate

human desire to achieve brought about the invention of the artificial heart.

The potential for such inventions are enormous. According to the American

Heart Association, there are between 16,000 and 40,000 possible recipients

of artificial heart devices under the age of sixty-five. If perfected, it

would enable us to save thousands of human lives.

In considering the full impact of artificial heart devices

on society, we must not narrow our thinking to include only the beneficial

possibilities. There exist moral, ethical, and economic factors that accompany

these new innovations to humanity. Who will receive these brilliant inventions.

Obviously not all of the patients will get transplants, so selection criteria

must be established. The high price of artificial heart devices and their

implantation will eliminate some candidates. Unfortunately, this is not fair.

The rich, in essence, can buy life, whereas the poor are abandoned to die

in a diseased state. A thorough analysis of the implications of the implantation

of such devices reveals not only selection and economic consideration, but

mortality and ethics as well. Many contest that it is simply wrong to tamper

with the ways and creations of nature. By prolonging life through unnatural

means were are defeating natures foremost tenet of the “survival of the fittest.”

We are preserving the weaker gene pools and contributing to the deterioration

of the human species. These and other considerations play a vital role in

determining the artificial transplants actual benefit to the contemporary

world and the world of tomorrow. A full-scale incorporation of the artificial

heart devices technology into the medical world could have serious consequences,

all of which must be considered before such a rash step is taken.

Artificial heart devices are indeed a biotechnical wonder. Although they

are not yet perfected for permanent implantation, they are the most reliable

substitutes for bad heart parts until other functional, transplantables can

be located. The Jarvik-7 was the first artificial device heart which was

created by Symbion Incorporated. This system was used to replace the heart

of Dr. Barney Clark, the first artificial heart patient. The device lasted

for one-hundred and twelve days before Mr. Clark sank into an agony of

complications and died. The Jarvik-7 was implanted four more times to replace

failing hearts, with similar results, before the federal authorities halted

the procedure.

Other devices have made progress since the Jarvik-7. One of the more successful

inventions is the left ventricle assist device (LAVD). This device incorporates

a host of hard won technological advances. Perhaps the most important is

its “bio-compatible” materials, which have allowed the LAVD to function without

problems for well over a year in a patient’s body. The LAVD has been implanted

in more than seven hundred people for up to seventeen months, as they have

awaited human heart transplants(Stipp 38).

It is difficult to fathom the great scientific ingenuity that was required

to develop these devices. However, we must not be blinded from seeing the

whole picture. In assuming its role as a boost to humanity, these inventions

bring many concerns. The issue of selecting patients for implantation is

an important one. There are three alternatives for selecting patients who

should have priority to receive artificial heart devices. The first decision-

based medical criteria, which seems to make the most sense. This method is

meant to choose the ideal patient; the patient who can reap the most benefits

not only for himself, but for researchers. Therefore, researchers look for

a subject who will yield the information sought and thus produce the gains

of new knowledge and therapies. In choosing a subject in this manner, researchers

are governed by a principle of nonmaleficence, which means they can do no

harm solely in order to further the experimental aspect of the operation.

This rule prevents the “mad scientist” mentality from taking hold in experimental