Patients suffering from heart disease could benefit from a new machine developed to filter bad cholesterol from the blood, according to a report by Ivanhoe News (above).
A device developed at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine can help individuals who are genetically predisposed to having high LDL levels in the blood -- aka bad cholesterol -- which can prompt heart disease.
According to Dr Amber Sanchez of UC San Diego, the process should prevent their first patient's heart, Sandra Miller, heart disease growing worse.
She adds: "It could also perhaps reverse some of the plaque build-up that is already in her heart."
According to the video report, Mrs Miller is one of the first patients at UC San Diego to undergo LDL apheresis, which removes cholesterol-containing low-density lipoproteins (LDL) from the bloodstream.
Her blood is put through a filter that absorbs all the bad cholesterol and returns the rest to her body.
Mrs Miller's LDL levels dropped from 350 to 67 during the procedure (the healthy level is around 70), but to keep her levels low she'll need to have the procedure performed every two weeks, for life.