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How astrophysics could save heart patients

APR 10, 2009
Physics Today

The Daily Telegraph : Geologists studying how molten metal coagulates at the centre of planets while they are forming have discovered that their research can also be used to investigate blood flow in the human heart.

Their work has already helped surgeons find the location of a potentially life-threatening blood clot in a patient’s heart.

Using sophisticated computer modelling developed to explore the flow of liquid metal through rocks, the scientists were able to show doctors where the patient’s blood was gathering in a pool in their heart due to a blood clot.

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