“A team of surgeons at the National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH) in Taipei undertook the revolutionary operation, during which the donor heart continues beating between the organ removal and transplantation stages. Traditionally, the donor heart would be removed and preserved in cold storage to reduce its workload – during this stage, it’s considered ‘ischemic time,’ or the period during which the organ is cut off from blood supply. This comes with the risk of heart damage and rejection once it’s transplanted into a recipient…

The NTUH team skipped this interim, performing the zero-ischemic time transplant that saw the heart continue to beat while between bodies…

The operation was able to be performed thanks to a specially designed organ maintenance system that kept the donor heart pumping with oxygenated blood throughout the process…

As for the patient, the 49-year-old woman with dilated cardiomyopathy was discharged from hospital not long after her surgery last August and is doing well. Subsequent post-operative appointments have shown that the woman maintains a low level of cardiac enzyme – something that spikes in typical transplant conditions, indicating heart muscle injury.”

From New Atlas.

“Precision Neuroscience has obtained an FDA clearance for a crucial piece of its plans for a full brain-computer interface system, starting with its minimally invasive cortical electrode array. The company described it as the first regulatory green light for a developer of wireless mind-reading tech.

The agency cleared Precision’s Layer 7 interface as a temporary implant for use up to 30 days. Built on a thin, flexible film, the device and its 1,024 electrodes can be slotted through a sub-millimeter incision and placed nearly anywhere on the surface of the brain in a reversible procedure. It is capable of recording information as well as stimulating neural activity, and multiple implants have been used in a single patient.

The company said the go-ahead from the FDA will allow it to begin offering the device for medical applications such as brain mapping during open surgery, as it continues to develop its computer-controlling platform.”

From Fierce Biotech.

“Singer Katy Perry, CBS anchor Gayle King and other well-known women set off to space on Monday morning in Blue Origin’s 11th human spaceflight mission.

Why it matters: This is the first all-woman space crew in U.S. history.

The flight was led by Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos’ commercial space company. Minutes after taking off, the crew experienced weightlessness. Then they soon safely returned to Earth.”

From Axios.

“Kenya has seen an increase in electricity access rates, from 37% in 2013 to 79% in 2023, with urban areas reaching full access, positioning the country as a leader in economic and energy development within the region.”

From Energy Monitor.