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Researchers at Karolinska Institutet and KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden have contributed to a recent discovery that the heart is filled with the aid of hydraulic forces, the same as those involved in hydraulic brakes in cars. The findings, which are presented in the journal Scientific Reports, open avenues for completely new approaches to the treatment of heart failure.
The mechanisms that cause blood to flow into the ventricles of the heart during the filling, or diastolic, phase are only partly understood. While the protein titin in the heart muscle cells is known to operate as a spring that releases elastic energy during filling, new research at Karolinska Institutet and KTH suggests that hydraulic forces are equally instrumental.
Hydraulic force, which is the pressure a liquid exerts on an area, is exploited in all kinds of mechanical processes, such as car brakes and jacks. In the body, the force is affected by the blood pressure inside the heart and the size difference between the atria and ventricles. During diastole, the valve between the atrium and the ventricle opens, equalising the blood pressure in both chambers. The geometry of the heart thus determines the magnitude of the force. Hydraulic forces that help the heart’s chambers to fill with blood arise as a natural consequence of the fact that the atrium is smaller than the ventricle.
news.ki.se
The mechanisms that cause blood to flow into the ventricles of the heart during the filling, or diastolic, phase are only partly understood. While the protein titin in the heart muscle cells is known to operate as a spring that releases elastic energy during filling, new research at Karolinska Institutet and KTH suggests that hydraulic forces are equally instrumental.
Hydraulic force, which is the pressure a liquid exerts on an area, is exploited in all kinds of mechanical processes, such as car brakes and jacks. In the body, the force is affected by the blood pressure inside the heart and the size difference between the atria and ventricles. During diastole, the valve between the atrium and the ventricle opens, equalising the blood pressure in both chambers. The geometry of the heart thus determines the magnitude of the force. Hydraulic forces that help the heart’s chambers to fill with blood arise as a natural consequence of the fact that the atrium is smaller than the ventricle.
Hydraulic forces help to fill the heart
news.ki.se
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