Engineer designs his own heart implant

Tal Golesworthy, a British engineer from Tewkesbury, suffered from Marfan syndrome, an inherited condition that threatened to split his aortic root. After being told that he urgently needed a mechanical valve implant, he designed one that was better than the one already in use, custom tailored to his heart (as displayed on his MRIs) and used a rapid prototyper to refine the design. He received his implant in 2004, and 23 more people have had them implanted since.

'We realised fairly early that with RP we would not be able to produce the finished device, but that we should be able to produce a perfect 3D thermoplastic model of the aorta,' said Golesworthy. 'The challenge then was to find a way of producing what was almost always going to be a textile implant to fit this model.'
The team looked at a number of different processes, such as 3D embroidery, but ended up using a standard medical polymer, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) in a textile solution that allowed them to form a mesh directly onto the former. The mesh weighed less than 5g, was an exact fit for the ascending aorta and could be sutured into place by the surgeon. The process, from proposal to final product, took just under two years.

UK engineer develops own life-saving implant (via Medgadget)

I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

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urbanhick

Man, now THAT’S what you call DIY. Well done, Mr. Golesworthy – may your new(fangled) implant see a long lifetime of use!
kmoser

In the US, insurance companies would reject his custom-designed valve as “experimental medicine”.
- urbanhick
  
  In the UK, he doesn’t need to worry about that. You know – that crazy socialized medicine that’s going to destroy the US….
inness

Okay, FINE! I’ll just say it: It looks like a dildo! A white, shiny, G-Spot hittin’ DILDO! *NOW* can we welcome the onrush of excellent DIY, engineering-type comments?
Sheesh.
- codesuidae
  
  I thought it looked like a chili pepper.
Enormo

Um… uh… it looks like a… hmmm… I let someone else break the story.
nbobinchak

Look at this awesome banana heart implant.

Just look at it.
Brainspore

Tony Stark lives.
megnesium

I was on the London Underground this past summer, when I noticed a man having trouble moving his bags. So, as a stereotypical US tourist, I asked if he needed any help. He thanked me kindly and explained that he was an engineer and he was going to be having his second hip replacement soon, but that it had to wait until he finished designing and making it first. Maybe that’s just what all British engineers do when faced with a need for prosthetic parts.
Anonymous

Obvious comment would be obvious.

/best of health to new recipient.
Anonymous

Incidentally, this is the condition John Ritter died of.
- Antinous / Moderator
  
  Aortic dissection can also be caused by Ehlers-Danlos. I believe that’s what Richard Biggs (of B5) had.