How a ‘space hairdryer’ regrows hea rt tissue

Hello. New research shows the promise of a device that generates mild soundwaves to help regrow heart tissue. Jim Reed looks into the findings. In Tenerife, authorities are searching for a British teenager who has been missing for days. Nick Garnett and Jonny Humphries have the latest. We're also exploring England's lesser known, but still impressive, stone circle, and receive good news about a rare European wild cat.

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A device that can regenerate heart tissue

Larger trials of the device are now planned to try to replicate the results in a wider group of patients. Credit: BBC

New research suggests gentle shockwaves could regenerate the heart tissue of patients after bypass surgery, a discovery that could help millions of people. The device that makes this possible has been dubbed a "space hairdryer" by researchers.

What is a heart bypass exactly?

In severe cases of heart disease or other cardiovascular complications, surgeons take a healthy blood vessel from the chest, leg or arm and attach it to the area of the heart above and below the blocked artery. But this kind of operation can only preserve heart function rather than improve it.

What did the study involve?

Researchers in Austria have been trying to regenerate the damaged tissue itself by applying mild soundwaves shortly after bypass surgery. Half of the bypass patients in the study, published in the European Heart Journal, were treated with soundwaves under general anaesthetic, while the others received a fake – or sham – procedure. A year after their surgery, the amount of oxygenated blood pumped by the heart had increased by 11.3% in the shockwave group, compared with 6.3% in the control group.

What's the role of the 'space hairdryer'?

The procedure, which takes about 10 minutes, is designed to stimulate the growth of new vessels around the area damaged or scarred after a heart attack. The researchers expect European regulators to approve the device later this year, with the first use on patients outside clinical trials planned for 2025.

THE BIG PICTURE

Where making clothes can land you in jail

Mr Madoi's bail hearing is set for 24 June. Credit: BBC

Prominent Ugandan designer Latif Madoi was arrested last month for allegedly possessing "uniforms declared to be for the exclusive use" of the military and police, which is illegal under Ugandan law. Critics suspect the 47-year-old's real offence was designing the fire engine-red overalls worn by opposition leader Bobi Wine.

And finally... in the Iberian Peninsula

The Iberian lynx, a wild cat native to Spain and Portugal, is no longer considered endangered after conservation efforts in the past two decades succeeded in growing population numbers. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the feline species is now classified as "vulnerable".