Medical Breakthrough '08: An Artificial Lung

An artificial lung may give lung transplant hopefuls a new lease on life.

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• Lung Cancer
• Your Medical Care
• Breakthroughs
• Mind & Body

A new device may offer hope to patients in desperate need of a lung transplant. Robert Bartlett, MD, a University of Michigan professor emeritus of surgery, and his team have developed the BioLung, an artificial lung that works with the heart's own pumping action to manage oxygen and blood flow throughout the body. Because the device uses the heart rather than mechanics to pump blood, the patient can stay active at home instead of being sedated and hooked up to a machine in the hospital. The device can even remain in place following a transplant, until the donor lungs are fully operational. 5 years

From Reader's Digest - March 2008

 

• Medical Breakthroughs for 2008
• New hope for cancer, diabetes, dementia and more.
• 
• Lung Cancer and Nonsmokers
• Why do some nonsmokers get lung cancer?
• 
• Breathe Easier With Greater Lung Power
• Say goodbye to huffing and puffing up the stairs
• 

Since he's a big Star Wars fan, my grandson Eric named the chicken he raised for his 4-H project Millennium Chicken, after the good guys' spaceship, Millennium Falcon. There wasn't enough room to print that on the bird's crate, so he wrote, "Hen Solo."

-- Terry Crouse, Nampa, Idaho

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