Fearing 'Missed' Heartbeat?

Fearing 'Missed' Heartbeat?

No way.  Because as technology unfolds, a day may come soon that hearts need not and will not beat in the future.  Is it catastrophe or end of civilisation?  Should one fear missing an heartbeat on seeing a beautiful girl – it would become a thing of the past for world’s first bionic heart that does not beat but circulates blood has already been successfully transplanted into a live and healthy sheep by Australian researchers. Sheep chosen as it is similar in chest size to women and  children. Any artificial organ, particularly heart, runs the risk of wear and tear and declining efficiency.  This new device ‘BiVACOR’ will likely to function 10 years more than the previously designed artificial hearts, it is claimed.  This device has a disk that spins at 2000 rpm to pump blood without a beat, viz., pulse.  It is stated that it uses magnetic levitation technology to keep the components of the units from coming into contact one another and hence no wear and tear.  It is definitely revolutionary and 'path creating'.

Being a non-medical, let me venture out to visualise, though not seriously, the impact of this device on our day to day life.  Whenever one meets a doctor for any consultation, he would sub consciously extends his hand to the doctor, not for a hand shake, but to enable him to feel the pulse.  The medic routinely grips his hand to read the pulse and opens his Sphygmomanometer (difficult for me to even pronounce) for a reading of blood pressure.  These are the two parameters he basically needs to diagnose the status of a patient.

People normally does not like change and that is why age old practices are being followed without deviation or even questioning the necessity of it for the present day.  There are a lot of faculties in educational institutions who continue to teach the subject as they learnt during their college days till the time of their superannuation without updating contemporary developments .  This is the same reason why organisational culture does not change and Mergers and Amalgamations become failures.  Adaptability is the victim.  Doctors are also no exception and imagine a doctor who has not brushed up his repertoire and kept abreast of the developments diagnosing a patient with no heartbeat.   Will the bionic heart change the body temperature – another all important parameter a doctor needs at first.  The all known surgical procedures have to be harmonized to suit the changed circumstance, i.e., without heartbeat or pulse.  The entire medical knowledge will have to be overhauled and approach in all areas concerning physiology has to be re-charted!

If a person is emotionally charged or physically over exerted, there is every possibility that he will get a heart attack or stroke.  Will the position change when this new device is implanted?  The new device will possibly be programmed to take additional load.  That throws up more possibilities.World over it is customary for people to say, "Long Live" or "Bless you", when one sneezes.  It is said that while sneezing the heart stops for a fraction of a second!  In future scenario this good intentioned gesture will become redundant. 
 
The possibilities are endless with a bionic heart sans ‘beats’ in place of one which 'beats'.

From another angle, having a device with no heartbeat and human beings with ever changing emotions, the psychiatrists will also likely to have a field day.