Arteries are bioelectric


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And they could well be manipulated by externally applied fields.

http://www.physorg.com/news/2012-01-discovery-bioelectric-arteries-path-heart.html

Discovery of 'bioelectric' arteries opens path to heart disease treatment

The research team found for the first time that electric charge inherently builds up along the walls of the body's largest artery, the aorta. The charge arranges itself so that an electric field points outward from the artery, and the direction of this internal field can be manipulated by external electric fields.

Together, these electrical traits make the aorta ferroelectric, a property mainly associated with artificial materials such as liquid crystals used in some flat screen displays. Although the researchers used pig tissue for their study, outside experts believe that these ferroelectric characteristics are likely present in humans as well.

"It's an unusual property, and we were very skeptical at the beginning," said Jiangyu Li, a mechanical engineer at the University of Washington, in Seattle, and a member of the research team. "It came to us as a big surprise, and we're very excited about it."

Having observed this property, scientists now hope to develop technology that takes advantage of it. Biomedical researchers envision new devices that could help abate the widespread problem of atherosclerosis, the buildup of fatty plaque in arteries.

Atherosclerosis occurs when excessive plaque in arterial walls blocks passageways and narrows blood's path to vital organs. Eventually, this bottlenecking can lead to heart attacks and strokes. Because electric charge builds up on plaque in a similar way to arteries, the interplay of these electrical properties might contribute to fat sticking to arterial walls.

Once the phenomenon is better understood, doctors could "apply the reverse process to help gradually reduce the plaque buildup," said Katherine Zhang, a biomedical engineer at Boston University and a coauthor of the research?accepted for publication?in the journal Physical Review Letters.

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Well I am curious what real world applications you could develop with this. Electrically messing about with the largest artery probably isn't going to do the aortic valve or caridac propagation any good though.

Although I would love it if atherosclerosis could be solved by Reversing The Polarity.

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