Artificial organs have come a long way since the first dialysis machine, the rotating artificial kidney, was invented in 1944 by Willem Johan Kolff, who is known as the ''father of artificial organs''. At that time he met stiff resistance from his hospital superiors but his persistence paid off and a million saved lives have been attributed to his first invention. He was indeed the first to mix medicine and engineering. An artificial organ is any machine, device, or other material that is used to replace the functions of a faulty or missing organ or other parts of the human body. Some body parts are more of a challenge than others. The heart has one purpose and it is to pump blood; however, the liver has biochemical and physiological functions which are difficult to simulate. The implantation of an artificial organ is critical because of the patient life dependency on the artificial organ itself. The treatment of choice is organ transplantation, however, transplant candidates face a long waiting time and many die while on the waiting list. In addition there are patients who are excluded from transplantation because of age or presence of other diseases. This book p- sents an overview of the current state of knowledge of artificial organs including the liver, pancreas, kidney, heart, cochlea, skin, stem cells, composite tissue allograft, and sphincters.
Artificial Organs
covers everything from the support of multiorgan failure, and blood substitutes, to the management of short bowel syndrome, artificial sphincters, and circulatory support in heart failure. Other issues covered include pancreatic substitution in case of diabetes, the dialysis machine in kidney failure, the bionic ear in deafness, skin substitutes in cases of burns, and stem cells in organ replacement.
Written by experts from European and US, both physicians and surgeons, each of the chapters compares the artificial organ to what is currently available from the transplant point-of-view, to highlight the current and modern available techniques for organ replacement.
The book is useful reading for surgeons, and those interested in modern surgical and medical technology.
Professor Nadey S Hakim (KCSJ, MD, PhD, FRCS, FRCSI, FACS, FICS) Consultant Transplant & General Surgeon Surgical Director, Transplant Unit, Hammersmith Hospital.
