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| ART AND MEDICINE |
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| Year : 2011 | Volume
: 12
| Issue : 1 | Page : 39 |
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Alternative to animal testing
Rachel Hajar
Department of Cardiology and Cardiothoracic Surgery, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar
| Date of Web Publication | 25-May-2011 |
Correspondence Address:
Rachel Hajar
Department of Cardiology and Cardiothoracic Surgery, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha
Qatar
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/1995-705X.81551
How to cite this article:
Hajar R. Alternative to animal testing. Heart Views 2011;12:39 |
A full scale vascular model made completely of glass, to enable fluid dynamics experimentation to study blood flow without using animal models, named 'Mrs Einstein', has all the major arteries in the body represented in it, and is a beautiful piece of completely functional art.
With all the major arteries of the body represented in it, this model provides research teams the best possible venue for device testing. All the four chambers of the heart are placed along with the coronary arteries and veins to allow for stent and defibrillator lead placement.
 Animal Testing In Research | |  |
In recent years, animal testing in research has come under fire and criticism, mainly from animal rights groups, who argue that animals are treated 'cruelly'; yet many good things have come from it. We owe many medical advances to animal testing: vaccinations, eradication of communicable diseases, drug therapy, cancer research and advances in its therapy, transplant surgery, surgical procedures, development of techniques and new technologies to improve diagnosis of diseases, and many other benefits to improve the quality of life for millions of people.
Although many key questions can still only be answered by animal studies, non-animal methods now account for 90% of medical research and include mathematical and computer models, advanced tissue and cell cultures, and scanning technology.
The glass vasculature model, to study fluid dynamics in cardiovascular research, is a small step in the right direction. Hopefully, a time will come when scientists do not have to use animals for medical research. Until then, they remain crucial to advancing medical knowledge and hope to millions of people with conditions such as, Alzheimer's disease, cancer, sickle cell disease, stroke, spinal cord damage, and tropical diseases like malaria.
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