Million Dollar Man - Bionic Baroreceptor Replacement!

         With BP changes, our body must compensate to maintain homeostasis. Baroreceptors are critical in a reflex arc that elicits vasculature changes in response to altered arterial BP. The baroreflex can act via autonomic, endocrine, or behavioral alterations to achieve this compensation (Sved, A.F., 2009). If arterial BP drops, then the barorceptors will signal release of vasopressin (an antidiuretic) and increase thirst sensation, effectively increasing cardiac output. As you can imagine, maintaining homeostasis in blood pressure is critical to normal functioning and staying conscious. Without a quick response from the baroreflex, common actions such as standing would be insanely difficult. However, maladaptive pathology can lead to impaired functioning of the reflex and result in orthostatic hypotension (Sato et al., 2002).

        Fortunately, if you are suffering from a failure of your baroreflex, research has been done to develop a bionic therapy. Sato et al. (2002) worked with mice to determine if the technology would work. They found that their bionic model could return normal function in rats. Dr. Sato continued his research with another group in 2006 to progress the bionic baroreflex system (Yamasaki et al., 2006). In this study, 33 patients with orthostatic problems were given the bionic replacement. Orthostatic hypotension was tested by a thigh tourniquet and release. The baseline pressure after release of the tourniquet was 17 +/- 3 mmHg average decrease of arterial pressure in the first 10 seconds and in the first minute, the decrease was 25 +/-2 mmHg. With the bionic baroreflex system, the decrease was only 9 +/-2mmHg within the first 10 seconds and only 1 +/-2 mmHg for the first 50 seconds (Yamasaki et al., 2006).

        This artificial control of the reflex has incredible pressure control and has positive implications in the realm of personalized medical therapies. If you have a condition that affects your pressure, your cardiologist could potentially install a bionic system that could virtually fix your pressure problems and in some cases improve your pressure control. Each bionic implant can be tweaked to match your body’s system so even hypertension could be treated. Derivatives of this technology have been used for years and greatly improve quality of life for many. However, with every therapy, cost is still a major factor. Until politics meets medicine, we might never see access of this technology for all. If the technology or the procedure becomes cheaper, then maybe we will see a significant reduction in hypertension and subsequently, cardiovascular diseases.  

Sato, T., Kawada, T., Sugimachi, M., & Sunagawa, K. (2002) Bionic technology revitalizes native baroreflex function in rats with baroreflex failure. Circulation, 106, 730-734. https://doi.org/10.1161/01.CIR.0000024101.77521.4D

Sved, A.F. (2009) Blood pressure: baroreceptors. Encyclopedia of Neuroscience. 259-264. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-008045046-9.00468-X

Yamasaki, F., Ushida, T., Yokoyama, T., Ando, M., Yamashita, K., & Sato, T. (2006). Artificial baroreflex. Circulation, 113, 634-639. https://doi.org/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.105.587915