Technology giant ISRO too has a ‘heart’

Materials and mechanisms used in Indian rockets have been tweaked by ISRO to make a device which some describe as a step towards the making of an ‘artificial heart’. The heart assist device has been tested on animals and found to be successful. Better known for orbiting satellites and flying giant rockets, the multi-talented team at ISRO made this heart pump as a spinoff technology development in the spare time.

Cardiologists are very excited with this development as it offers a lease of life to terminally-ill patients since heart transplant still remains out of reach for most. 

Using materials and knowhow perfected to make lightweight rockets and satellites, scientists at ISRO have perfected a device that assists the human heart to pump blood especially in cases where the left ventricle, the most powerful part of a human heart, starts to fail. Called the ‘left ventricular assist device’ this small electrical device can pump 3-5 litres of blood every minute.

The special pump made by the Indian space agency can also be powered using an indigenously made highly energy dense battery, the lithium ion cell, that has also for the first Time, been made in India again by another team of rocket scientists. 

The pump, which weighs about 100 grams can be fitted inside the body or placed externally and it needs a hook up to a battery to power it. Made from a special alloy of titanium the device is ‘bio-compatible’ says K Sivan, Director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Center (VSSC), in Thiruvananthapuram where the special heart pump has been mastered.