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Science Technology

Artificial Lung in the Works 22

Posted by michael from the smokers-rejoice dept.
StudMuffin writes "The University of Michigan Medical Center announced that an artificial lung that uses tiny hollow fibers and the heart's own pumping power to oxygenate blood is showing promise in pre-clinical studies, and may reach clinical trials in about a year for lung failure patients awaiting a lung transplant."
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Artificial Lung in the Works More

Artificial Lung in the Works

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  • I'm a tobacco smoker, and have been for many years. Yeah, it's a filthy habit, and bad for you, and stinks and whatever, but I happen to enjoy it.

    Lots of people tell me "you'll die of lung cancer!", to which my standard reply is "by the time I get lung cancer, I'll be able to buy new lungs at the seven-eleven!".

    I have many other witty counterarguments, but the one people seem to like best (especially women) is "My Body, My Choice!"

    But I'm glad to see I may be able to purchase those lungs at some point. Rather not have cancer, rather not quitting smoking either.

    Life is good.

    Wolfe.
    • well.. you seem to be forgetting that:
      1) it might be YOUR choice to smoke, but others are FORCED to put up with cancer-causing smoke, because you have an adiction...
      2) cancer does not simply contain itself to one part of the body, and a large procentile of people suffering from smokerelated cancer, are hit by it in the throat-area, rather than in the lungs....
      furthermore, it tends to spread rather rapidly, so even if you DO get it in the lungs, if you don't detect it relativly soon after, there's a great risk of it spreading to other organs, not so easily replaced...
      • Blah, blah.

        1) This is trivial to refute, but let's say for the sake of argument that I only smoke in the privacy of my own home while wearing a deep-diving helmet.

        2) Granted. I hope artificial replacement parts for other organs continue to appear, I have no problem with that. Quick detection should be easier as time passes (tricorder built into bathroom mirror, anyone?), and it will take quite a while to spread beyond chances to repair anyway.

        My body, my choice.

        8-)~
        • let's not forget about a third argument against smoking. it turns out that diseased smokers are a tremendous burden to the health insurance industry. since we all pay to a common pool, smokers who get artificial lungs (i assume expensive) will unfairly burden those who don't smoke with increased insurance payments on average. now, if you were to pay for those lungs out of your own pocket....
    • Ah, but what you're failing to deal with is that when you smoke, you don't only hurt yourself. According to the last US national survey, only 28% of americans choose to smoke, but the other 72% don't have a choice about breathing smokers' second hand smoke. Not to mention pregnant women.
      Personally, I don't really have much investment in the health (or lack thereof) of your lungs, but I don't want to get one of these things myself. So, as soon as they figure out how you can smoke, kill your lungs, and get an artificial pair, all without effecting mine (or the other millions of non-smokers), go for it! In the meantime, don't smoke near me or people I care about; we'd all like to keep our current, functional lungs.
      • I appreciate your point, and I understand where you are coming from. I too wish that smokers could somehow harm only themselves. I wish that banks never got robbed (burden to us all). I wish that everyone could earn a wage that would pay for their own existence (otherwise they are a burden to us all). I wish that free beer where really free (burden to me). But most of all I wish I could quit... but I can't so I'll ramble for a second.

        There has to be a way for me to smoke (or something like it), and enjoy the chemical euphoria without the negative health problems. Problems that hurt you(s) more than me (it only affects me once, my SHS can affect many people).

        Now that I think about it, I suspect that Phillip Morris sponsored some of the research into this lung. It could prove to be a very profitable accessory to them. I can see it now... "Get a 'new lung' when you send us 1,000,000,000 miles". I'm somewhat sorry that I affect your airspace, and try to only smoke while I'm driving my 1974 caddie (btw: if someone knows a place in north Texas that doesn't do the emissions test, I need to know where they are...)

        Oh yeah, that brings up my other point. While I'm sorry about the whole "I'm f'en up your lungs" thing, can you just give the whole "your killing me" thing a rest? I obviously don't care enough to quit, and while I am genuinely concerned if my cigarettes are going to kill you, I honestly think my car will do the job first.

        Pick your battles, don't f with us... we are victims too.

        Love you guys... good night... I'll be here all week... unless that next pack gets me first.

  • the future is here (Score:3, Interesting)

    by tps12 ( 105590 ) on Tuesday June 18, 2002 @04:24PM (#3724298) Homepage Journal
    Well, I guess it was just a matter of time. Now we have artificial hearts [howstuffworks.com] (pop-up warning), artificial lungs [umich.edu], and artificial kidneys [ncsu.edu]. (I mean that we as a society have them available to us as a technology, not that we as individuals actually have those things inside us, though some of us no doubt do.)

    How long before we also have artificial skin [nwsource.com] to hold our artificial hair [suite101.com]? How long before we decide what to put in our artifcial stomachs [indiana.edu] with our artificial brains [artificialbrains.com]?

    The human race is about to step aside to make room for the cybernetically enhanced. May God have mercy on our souls. My one request is that none of my organs run anything made by Microsoft. See you in the future.
    • Heh, it's kinda neat eh?

      Seriously though, I've always been kinda intregued by (warning, I'm exploring the mad-scientist in me) the pathalogical fear people have of human-machine hybrids or even fully artificial humans. We all know there's lots of Sci-fi on the subject, some good some bad.. but I'm curious if the geek culture (let's choose a horribly biased sample set.. hrm.. oh here's one.. Slashdot :) has less of a instinctive fear of "being replaced"..?

      (Note, I'm not saying it's good or bad.. I'm just curious if the "average geek's" opinion is different from the average man's)

      Sharper
    • See you in the future.

      Yes, but in a lot more wavelengths, and possibly in ultrasound, as well.

  • ....and allow them to stay healthy enough to remain at the top of the transplant list

    Is this where it all starts? Seems whoever can pay for the good stuff will get the organs. Oh well, hope my HMO's covers this device, cause with my 3 pack a day habit I will need a new set of lungs in a few decades.
  • Yes, for 1,000,000 Marborough Miles, you can get your own set of cyber lungs.

    Simply insert a pack into the reloadable cartridge and enjoy your Class A cigarretes all day long.
  • I can see this being a real asset for heart transplants... Currently, what they do is reroute the blood from the heart and lungs into what is commonly called a "heart and lung machine." (Duh.) It's a massive thing, roughly the size of a refrigerator. It replaces the functions of the heart and lungs during the operation, although (IIRC) with a continuous flow of blood instead of intermittent pulses, as is natural.

    Having some nice, functional artificial lungs would be a real asset. Certainly reduce the need for bulky machinery.
  • I think slashdot readers care more about artificial pussy [bigsextoystore.com] than artificial lungs.

    Or, at least have a greater need for it!

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