Artificial organs
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In-Series Versus In-Parallel Mechanical Circulatory Support for the Right Heart: A Simulation Study.
Right heart failure (RHF) is a serious health issue with increasing incidence and high mortality. Right ventricular assist devices (RVADs) have been used to support the end-stage failing right ventricle (RV). Current RVADs operate in parallel with native RV, which alter blood flow pattern and increase RV afterload, associated with high tension in cardiac muscles and long-term valve complications. ⋯ The results demonstrated that sRVAD more effectively unloads the RV and restores the balance between RV oxygen supply and demand in RHF patients. In comparison to simulated pRVAD and published clinical and in silico studies, the sRVAD was able to provide comparable restoration of key hemodynamic parameters and demonstrated superior afterload and volume reduction. This study concluded that in-series support was able to produce effective afterload reduction and preserve the valve functionality and native blood flow pattern, eliminating complications associated with in-parallel support.
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Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) is used as an adjunctive therapy for drug-resistant epilepsy and results in a 50% seizure reduction in up to 50% of treated patients. The VNS frequency used in the clinic today is in the range of 10-30 Hz. The evidence for choosing the stimulation frequency is limited, and little knowledge is available on the effect of other VNS frequencies. ⋯ However, we found that 130 and 180 Hz VNS induced a 50% larger attenuation of seizures than that achieved by 30 Hz VNS. In addition, we found that 80, 130, and 180 Hz VNS induced a significant reduction of the nMSF, that is by 5, 7, and 8%, respectively. These results suggest that a VNS stimulation frequency in the range of 130-180 Hz may be more effective in inhibiting seizures than the 30 Hz VNS applied in the clinic today.