Ideas to replace diseased organs healthy humans arose several centuries ago. But imperfect methods of surgery and anesthesia are not allowed to implement his plan. In the modern world, organ transplantation has taken a worthy place in the treatment of terminal stages of many diseases. Were saved thousands of lives. But problems have arisen from the other side. The catastrophic shortage of donor organs, immunological incompatibility and thousands of people on a waiting list of a body that has not waited for his operation.
Scientists around the world are thought to create a thicket of artificial organs, which could replace these by their functions, and in this direction have been some successes. We are aware of the artificial kidney, lungs, heart, skin, bones, joints, the retina, cochlear implants.
One of the most necessary of artificial organs - a kidney. Currently, hundreds of thousands of people in the world to live, should receive regular hemodialysis. Unprecedented "aggression machine", the need to diet, take medication, limit your fluid intake, loss of efficiency, freedom, comfort and various complications of the internal organs accompany this therapy.
Artificial ventilation (AV) - an effective means of intensive therapy that provides gas exchange, has all the modes for the different variants of mechanical ventilation. But as a self-treatment is ineffective, all the advantages of this method are shown in the treatment of the underlying disease. With prolonged use it is also possible the development of various complications.
The principles of creating an artificial heart was developed by VP Demikhova back in 1937 with the passage of time the device has undergone tremendous changes in the sizes and how to use the artificial heart - a mechanical device that temporarily takes over the function of circulation, if the patient's heart can not fully provide the body with enough blood. A significant downside is the need for constant recharging from the mains.
All of these devices can be considered as a temporary measure until the patient is waiting for organ transplants. All of them are far from perfect, and deliver a lot of inconvenience to the patient.
The ideal artificial body shall meet the following criteria:
it can be implanted in the human body;
He has no communication with the environment;
is made of lightweight, durable, has high biocompatibility of the material;
durable, can withstand heavy loads;
fully simulates the functions of the natural analogue.
At the beginning of the XXI century, there were preconditions emergence of fundamentally new approaches to restoring the functions of vital organs, based on the technologies of cell and tissue surgery.
