Recently, French scientists have seriously engaged in the race of building the first proper artificial heart which is supposed to help people with heart disease live longer, without the need of a heart transplant. French scientists have announced that they have managed to create the most technological advanced artificial heart by borrowing technologies from airplane manufacturing.

The artificial heart was tested on animals and it is said that it is the first one to actually modify how it pumps blood according to what the body needs. Scientists have tested the heart on sheep in several hypothetical situations, testing if the heart can manage to sustain blood flow when the sheep was performing intense physical activities and when its body was relaxed.

Other artificial hearts have been created in the past, but this new French on is the first one to actually resemble a human heart, having two pumps that deliver blood directly to the lungs and the rest of the body. French scientists have ingeniously used airplane technology in manufacturing their artificial heart, using the same small sensors that measure air pressure or altitude. The heart is able to detect how fastly it needs to pump blood as well as the pressure in the veins’ walls.

South Korea and Japan are also in the race to design the first well functioning artificial heart but unlike in the French case, there is little known about their projects and their developments. A working artificial heart could help save thousands of lives in need for a heart transplant and it will be a major step forward in the field of medicine and technology alike.