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Invention: Heart-reinforcing corset

Heart-reinforcing corset

Congestive heart failure happens when the heart cannot pump enough blood to meet the body's metabolic needs. The condition is poorly understood, but generally thought to be caused by problems with the heart's valves or damage to its walls.

In the short term, the heart tries to compensate by expanding so that it can pump more blood. But this starts a vicious cycle of decline that damages the overstretched heart even more.

A protective band around the heart to reinforce its walls and prevent it from becoming enlarged could be the answer, say Bilal Shafi and colleagues at the Stanford University School of Medicine in Palo Alto, California, US.

They suggest building up the walls with two layers of polymer. The first is made of polyethylene glycol to provide strength, and the second is a layer of collagen that provides elasticity and biocompatibility. The key to the technique is the ability to deliver the polymer mix to the heart in the form of a powder or gel. It can then be cured in place by UV light or heat to form a thin, strong film.

Read the full heart-wall reinforcement patent application.

Blink-triggering glasses



But Doreen Jacob and colleagues from the University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US, have devised a pair of glasses that communicates with sensors attached to the eyelids' muscles. The sensors report whether the muscles controlling the eyelid have contracted or not. If they haven't for a certain time, the glasses send a command to force a blink by stimulating the muscles electrically.


Read the full automatic blink patent application.

Smart mortar fuse




Read the full piezoelectric fuse patent application.

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A reinforcing band made from two different polymers (740 and 742) could prevent dangerous expansion of the heart and reduce the danger of congestive heart failure




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