There are approximately 610,000 people that die from heart disease each year. That is 1 in every four people. With these numbers, heart disease has become the worst disease in the country. How can we combat this disease? What if a company can invent technologies that can transform the treatment of this disease? Well, there is a company that can do this and much more.
St. Jude Medical is a medical device company that has a portfolio that contains a wide range of devices that treat various diseases. One of these diseases is Heart Failure. Heart Failure is when the heart becomes too weak to sufficiently pump blood to through the body. This causes people to have very little energy and if left untreated, it could lead to death. You can find more information about heart failure here.
Signiture Products
One of the signature products of St. Jude Medical is the Biocor™ Stented Valve System with FlexFit™ Stent. This is a tissue valve that can be implanted in individuals that are suffering from valve damage. Valve damage can happen for multiple reasons. For example, a heart valve can become calcified and not open and close properly. Heart valve calcification is when plaque builds on the wall of the valve and harden causing the valve to loos its flexibility. We certainly don't want this. There is a reason that heart valves are flexible. Flexibility allows the valve to fully cover the hole in the heart when the valve is closed and it allows it to fully open when the blood is traveling between the chambers.
The Biocor™ Stented Valve System with FlexFit™ Stent is called a tissue valve because it is made from bovine tissue. Being made from tissue gives the valve flexibility that a mechanical valve would not have. Additionally, it also prevents blood cells from breaking down and forming clots. But if biology has taught us anything, it is that you can't simply put tissue from one organism into another. You get issues about bio-compatibility. To solve this, the tissue is "killed." What this means is that the tissue is stripped of all of its markers. When this happens, the human body does not know that the tissue is foreign because it has no way to detect it. Since the human body is unable to detect the foreign tissue, it does not produce an immune response.
In order to implant the valve, the patient has to under go surgery. The valve is implanted into the individual and sewn in place as shown in the picture below.
.jpg "Implanting of Tissue Heart Valve")
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Artificial_heart_valves_(450128462).jpg
Careers
If the information above has peeked your interest in St. Jude Medical, then you should consider a career at the company. St. Jude Medical not only offers full time employment but it also offers internships in various departments. Additionally, St, Jude Medical has several corporate locations in California and apply here.
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