Dick Cheney may not have a pulse, but part of his ticker is spinning at 9,000 RPM. The former Vice President provided an instant laugh line for comedians this week when it was revealed that during his latest heart surgery, doctors installed a new implant called left ventricular assist device, or LVAD.
The pump runs something like a drill bit, continuously rotating at 9,000 rotations per minute rather than squeezing and releasing, so Cheney now officially has no pulse, according to Dr. Stuart D. Russell, chief of heart failure and transplantation at Johns Hopkins’ Comprehensive Transplant Center [Baltimore Sun].
A device like Cheney's is implanted in his chest, with the exception of the batteries, which the user must wear in a separate vest. (Though the Baltimore Sun
reports that patients can wear the power source "holster style," which may be more Cheney's style.) So what does this thing do? As ...
