Evening star., 1935-09-01
Indy DESCRIBES
ARTIFICIAL HEART
Device for Maintaining Life
Apart From Body Re.
VeaIed in Detail.
By the Associated Press.

first time by a Rockefeller Institute
publication.
The success Of this heart, announced
last June without explanation of its
mechanism, was hailed by scientists
as one Of the great achievements in
medicine.
The heart is single piece Of glass,
roughly resembling an old-fashioned
pump, in which an entire kidney,
liver spleen. or other organs Of the
human body can be kept alive in
definitely.
It is the first robot in which arti-
fetal life can be kept going as long
as the medical scientists wish, in plain
view of their eyes, where they can
study the otherwise hidden progress
Of disease.
The Lindbergh device-its proper
scientific name a perfusion pump
supplies not only the heart beats Of
human pressure and rhythm, but arti-
ficial blood and air to maintain life.
Yet it is device of marvellous sim
plicity. AS diagrammed by Lindbergh
himself it is three glass chambers,
connected one above the other, In
vertical position.
"Top-Fl0or" Chamber.
In the. top-floor chamber lives the
organ endowed with artificial life.
The bottom-fioor chamber is filled
with the artificial blood which medical
scientists have long known how to
create, but which they previously
lacked the means of using readily.
The second-fioor bulb. lying be-
tween the artifcially living organ
above and the blood chamber below,
serves to regulate to human-like
rhythm the flow of artificial blood.
This artificial life stream is driven
through a glass artery directly from
! the bottom-f1oor reservoir into the
| top one, containing the living organ.
| After running through the organ, the
artificial blood passes by a different
route down into the lower-fioor reser-
voir, to be used over again.
From an outside connection the
watching scientists are able to keep
! this lower-floor chamber filled with
purified artificial blood whenever
change is needed.
The flow up and down this three
story device is automatic. 1t is caused
by gas piped under pressure into the
two lower-f1oor chambers.
The pressure in the bottom-foor
chamber at times Is greater than IN
the second floor, so that the life blood
flows upward in beats. The pressureS
available range from zero to 120 milli-
meters of mercury. on the standard
gauges for blood pressures.
Piston of Oil.
There are no moving mechanical
parts. The gas pressure, which pumps
the artificial life stream, is varied
by piston of oil. The oil moves to
and fro in a glass tube to compress the
gas in regular beats.
The power driving the oil piston is
compressed air at the outer end Of
the oil column. The air does not pen
citrate the oil.
Hence it is easy to maintain com
plete sterilization of the life stream
and the living organ. 1t was lack of
perfect protection from outside infec-
tion that previously prevented scien-
lists from keeping life going indefinite
ly in whole organs outside the body.
The biological part of this work is
done by DR.. Alexis Carrel Of the Rocke-
feller Institute, who made the June
announcement jointly with Col. Lind
bergh.
The colonel publishes the mechan-
ical details today, under his own name,
in the Journal of Experimental Medi-
cine, Rockefeller Institute organ.
Col Lindbergh describes his work
in $50 words, which is followed by
detailed diagrams and directions. His
brief description reads;
THE apparatus described In this
paper was designed to maintain a
sterile, pulsating circulation of fluid
through living organs. More than rs
experiments, with various organs, have
been made up to the time Of writing. ,
Some of the results already have been
reported in brief.
In Two Portions.
"The apparatus may be considered
to consist of two portions. One, the
perfusion pump, contains the organ
and perfusion fluid, and must be
handled with aseptic technique. The
other is for the purpose of creating
and transmitting pulsating gas pres
sure to the perfusion fluid contained
in the first portion.
ut is unnecessary to keep the second
portion sterile.
THE perfusion pump is made of
pyrex glass, and has only three OPEN
ings which communicate with the in
terror. These openings are protected
against infection by filter bulbs con-
tanning non- absorbent cotton.
Neither the organ nor the per-
fusion fluid comes in contact with any
corks or joints which communicate
with the exterior. The perfusion pump
involves the use of three glass cham
bers. one above another.
1.-The organ lies on the slanting
glass floor of the highest chamber.
Fluid from the lowest, or reservoir,
chamber is driven through the nutrient
artery by pulsatile gas pressure. After
passing through the organ the fluid
returns through the central chamber
back. to the reservoir. The central
chamber exists for pressure equaliza-
ton.
1.-THE apparatus is actuated by COM
pressed air controlled by a rotating
valve. The pulsations created are
through an oil column to
controlled gas which passes back and
forth through the cotton filter bulbs
and causes the perfusion liquid to
circulate.
Gas Composition Controlled.
"The composition Of all gas In con-
tact with the organ and the perfusion
fluid is controlled. Filming and :
of the fluid are prevented.
The maximum and minimum pulsa-