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 is an artificial organ. Every day artificial organs are becoming more popular and more efficient than ever. Amputation (amputation is the loss or removal of a body part such as a finger, toe, hand, foot, arm, or leg) happens daily. Every day many people face organ loss. In the past, artificial organs were not widely available so amputees could not use them. As technology advances, it has become widely available. Now amputees can use prosthetic organs.
History of artificial organ
The first real breakthrough in the artificial organ was a prosthetic heart model design (Jarvik-7). In 1982 the first fully functioning artificial heart was successfully implanted in a human.
Artificial organs could solve transplant shortages
According to statistics more than 106000 people (within the USA) are waiting for transplantation. 87% of them need kidney transplantation. The shortage of organ donors is evident. If the patients do not get the donor within the right time, they will die. Soon, this shortage will be solved by the artificial kidney. People will be able to use prostheses instead of real ones. But for now, the bioartificial kidney is still under development and is not yet available to patients. At present, If a person is missing an arm or leg, an artificial limb can sometimes replace it. Amputee people are using these daily. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 35–40 million people globally require prosthetics and orthotics services, and this demand is increasing due to a range of factors.
Artificial organs and premature babies
In April 2017, researchers from the Center for Fetal Diagnosis and Treatment at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia announced and published that they had developed the world’s first artificial womb. Scientists are expecting that, in the future, the womb may be used to save lives and improve the health of the millions of preterm babies that are born every year.
Cutting edge prosthetics
Esper Bionics has developed a prosthetic arm which is one of the most advanced ones. As it features intuitive self-learning technology, it can predict movements faster than ever. When the wearer wants to control the hand, the brain sends impulses to specific muscles to activate them. Esper Hand can be controlled by the mind. It weighs only 380 grams!
An artificial organ in Bangladesh
Though prosthetic organs have vast potential they come with a huge expenditure. Joy Barua is a promising youth from Chittagong, who aims to provide low-cost robotic hands. He provides robotic hands ranging from 30,000 to 1,00,000 BDT.
Every day Scientists are finding newer, cheaper, and safer pathways to create artificial organs. Considering the current situation we can hope that, within 10-20 years artificial organs will be cheaper and available for mass production!
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Writer,
HRIDAM ROSHAN PAUL
Intern, Content Writing Department
YSSE