A Press Association news article recently showed that scientists had found a new use for gold — as components in heart implants. According to the article, scientists have added tiny "nanowires" to heart tissue and the result has been a higher level of functioning. In the future, some scientists are saying this technology could be used to repair the damage left by heart attacks.
Gold has been found to increase the conductivity of cells and the inclusion of gold nanowires improved the organized contractions of heart cells resulting in an overall stronger heart beat. There even is speculation that this technology could be incorporated into other parts of the body including the brain or spine.
Although the amount of gold used is miniscule (wires average 30 nanometres thick and two to three microns long, and are just visible to the naked eye), heart surgery already is an expensive undertaking and adding a commodity that now is more expensive than platinum to the mix definately won't help cut any costs.
