Activity 5.3.2 – Heart of the Matter
Introduction
Listen carefully. Can you hear or feel your heart beating? What do you know about
your heart other than it is beating? How does blood enter and exit the heart? What
do the valves do? What happens when something doesn’t work correctly? What
kinds of heart dysfunctions exist, and which ones can be corrected with surgery?
Of all the organs in the body, the heart is at the core of life. According to the
American Medical Association, over 70.1 million Americans have some sort of
cardiovascular disease. Deaths by heart related disease remains the #1 killer in the
US.
In this activity, you will take a closer look at the heart. You will investigate its function
and some of the more common cardiovascular dysfunctions that can occur.
Procedure
As a group, divide and conquer the following questions. Be sure to answer the
questions the thoroughly and be able to explain them to your group members.
YOUR RESEARCH SHOULD BE RECORDED IN YOUR NOTEBOOK.
DAY ONE:
General Heart Issues:
1. What is the difference between a disease and a disorder?
Disease is an abnormal condition of an organism that impairs bodily functions.
Disorder a derangement or abnormality of function, a morbid physical or mental
state.
2. What are the most prevalent heart issues for adults and children?
For children there are ventricular septal defects or communications between the
bottom chambers of the heart are most common.
For adults is cardiovascular disease it causes more than 17 million deaths in the
world each year. Cardiovascular disease is responsible for half of all deaths in the
United States.
3. What age group may experiences the most heart disease? What is the rate of
increase or decrease for each age group? Is heart disease a concern for
teenagers?
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25 to 34 years 12 deaths
35 to 44 years old 58 deaths
45 to 54 years old 237 deaths
55 to 64 years old 652 deaths
65 to 74 years old 1,508 deaths
75 to 84 years old 3,498 deaths
85 years old and over 8,124 deaths
Heart is concern for teenagers if they have family members that have heart
diseases, which might affect their children, or if they are born with a heart
disease
4. What is the medical indication that a person needs a heart transplant?
a. How many heart transplants are performed each year?
the range is from 1700 to 2200 heart transplants a year
b. How many people die before receiving a heart transplant?
thousands of people are waiting for a heart. About 35% of them die before
a heart becomes available.
c. How does a person get on the recipient list and how is the order of merit
determined? When their heart fails and needs to get a heart transplant
they are putted in order at which looks like a train, you have to wait your
turn, the order is determined by the heart and what kind of heart will your
body accept to work with.
5. What is the annual national average for children or newborns in need of a heart?
What is the most prevalent cause of heart problems for children and newborns?
11 percent and The use of Drugs, Tobacco, Alcohol will impair the newborn
baby, it might slow the brain’s development, it might cause heart disease
6. What are simple, immediate solutions to maintaining a healthy heart?
Regular exercise, healthy diet, and regular checkups to your doctor
Artificial Heart:
7. How does the artificial heart function? How is it different from the human heart?
There’s two different types of artificial heart, cardio west and AbioCor, The cardio
west is an artificial heart that only replaces the ventricles and atriums, the
AbioCor heart replaces all the veins, arteries, ventricles and atriums around the
heart
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8. Who invented the artificial heart?
Paul Winchell
9. Who was the first individual to receive an artificial heart?
Dr. Barney Clark
a. How long did he or she live after receiving the artificial heart? 112 days
b. What engineering problems existed with the first artificial heart that was
later addressed in newer models? Transcutaneous Energy Transfer , this
system consists of two coils, one internal and one external, that transmit
power via magnetic force from an external battery across the skin without
piercing the surface. The internal coil receives the power and sends it to
the internal battery and controller device.
10. Who currently manufactures artificial hearts? Where is this company (or
companies) located? AbioMed, Danvers Massachusetts
11. What patents currently exist on the artificial heart or on its components?
Winchell, Patents number US4255821
12. How long does it take for one artificial heart to be built and tested?
several days
a. How many are manufactured per year?
only about 3,000
b. What is the average cost to build an artificial heart?
around $70,000
13. When a patient receives an artificial heart, who pays for the heart, surgery and
the ongoing care?
14. What factors determine whether a person can be eligible for an artificial heart? Is
there a waiting list for an artificial heart?
If the heart fails to work, the person will need an artificial heart. The waiting list is
very long. A patient might wait up to more than 1 year.
People in the Field:
a. Who pioneered the surgeries involved with human heart transplant and
artificial heart implants first? The first adult human heart transplant was
performed by Christiaan Barnard in South Africa. The first human heart
transplant was operated on 3 December 1967.
How long did the first operations take? The operation lasted nine hours
and was performed by a team of thirty people.
b. What improvements have engineers made to the medical equipment
used? Tools are made with a special material, less heavy and being able
to do the perfect performance when needed. That is making the job of the
doctor easier.
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15. Who is currently involved in the improvement of the artificial heart? What are
areas of concern for engineers? Engineers are concerned about tools that can be
very beneficial to the doctors, heart parts that will increase the lifespan of the
artificial heart.
DAY TWO:
Next Steps:
Mitral Valve Prolapse is a type of valve disease. MVP causes
the leaflets of the mitral valve to flop back into the left atrium during
the heart's contraction. MVP also causes the tissues of the valve to
become abnormal and stretchy, causing the valve to leak.
1. As a group, choose a cardiac disease or disorder to research and begin
collecting information concerning:



Cause- In some people with mitral valve Prolapse, the mitral valve's flaps
have extra tissue, bulging like a parachute into their left atrium each time the
heart contracts.
Symptoms- -A racing or irregular heartbeat, Dizziness or lightheadedness
Age of onset, shortness of breath, fatigue, Chest pain that's not caused by a
heart attack or coronary artery disease
Possible treatments- Medications such as aspirin or other blood thinners,
Surgery for a new valve
1. Design and sketch a device that can treat this heart problem.
2. Based on your research, create a 3D model that is “representative” of the heart
chambers and valves. This model can be created using Autodesk or using
materials purchased by your group. One side of your heart’s model should
represent a normal heart and valves, while the other side should reflect the
disease or disorder researched. Your device created in step 2, should be able to
interact with your heart model.
3. Create a tri-fold poster display:
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a. Basic research information on your HEART disorder/disease.
i. What is it?
ii. Symptoms and side effects.
iii. When was it discovered and by who?
iv. What are possible treatments?
v. Interesting facts.
b. a sketch of a normal bisected heart
c. 3D model of the heart your group created comparing a normal side to an
afflicted side. If you used Autodesk to create your model you will print out
a multi view drawing
d. Exploded and multi view drawings of your heart device.
e. Description of your heart device.
f. Basic research information on your JOINT disorder/disease.
i. What is it?
ii. Symptoms and side effects.
iii. When was it discovered and by who?
iv. What are possible treatments?
v. Interesting facts.
g. Picture of functional joint.
h. Exploded and multi view drawings of your joint device.
i. 3D model of your joint with bones and muscles attached
Conclusion
As a group, answer these questions ON YOUR WEEBLY:
1. How would knowledge of the heart structure assist an engineer in designing an
artificial heart valve? The structure of the heart would assist an engineer doing
repairs on the heart because he would know the size and dimensions and the
different techniques that could be used for different functions, for example a
valve and the different designs that he could make for its function.
2. Physicians are highly interested in the creation of noninvasive procedures for
heart valve implants. Brainstorm and list ways to develop a noninvasive or less
invasive method for implanting valves.
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3. What is the role of the three components of the heart chamber in an artificial
heart? To receive the blood from the body and send it through the heart and out
to the lungs and throughout the body.
4. What are some engineering challenges concerning each of the heart valves?
the blood has to be able to flow through without any blood cells sustaining any
damage and without any blood getting stuck on the valve. Engineers have to
make them as close to human valves as possible.
5. What is the engineering challenge about the blood flow on each side of the
heart? The blood has different pressures.
On the left side it has higher pressure than the right side
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