Nasa-inspired heart device saves woman

14 February 2011 Last updated at 10:58 ET Help

A 27-year-old woman whose heart stopped beating on the operating table has been saved by a Nasa-inspired heart pump.

Mother-of-three Heather McIntyre, from Airdrie, suffered heart failure last year, but a surgeon at Scotland's Golden Jubilee National Hospital kept her alive by massaging her heart and inserting a Ventricular Assist Device (VAD).

It uses tiny motors designed by Nasa scientists to pump blood around the body, taking over the heart's function.

READ MORE: Heart pump 'mends' woman's heart

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