50 Years Ago Tech

Plans fizzled for nuclear-powered artificial heart

Excerpt from the April 3, 1965, issue of Science News Letter

pacemaker

Unlike atomic-powered artificial hearts,  nuclear-powered pacemakers, such as this one developed by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission in the 1970s, actually made it out of the lab and into human bodies.

Energy.gov/Flickr

By Beth Mole

- More than 2 years ago

Atom-powered heart forecast by researcher — A reciprocating atomic steam engine, weighing 4 ½ pounds and measuring 6 by 3 inches, could be implanted in the abdominal cavity with a heat exchanger attached to the external iliac artery, reported Dr.