Artificial organ a stationary power supply or other stationary resources such as filters or chemical processing units. (Periodic rapid recharging of batteries, refilling of chemicals, and/or cleaning/replacing of filters would exclude a device from being called an artificial organ.) Thus, a dialysis machine, while a very successful and critically important life support device that almost completely replaces the duties of a kidney, is not an artificial organ. Constructing and installing artificial organs, an extremely research-intensive and expensive process initially, may entail many years of ongoing maintenance services not needed by a natural organ.: The use of any artificial organ by humans is
Transneuronal degeneration that transneuronal degeneration could enhance the consequences of patients with degenerative processes like Alzheimer’s disease (see associated diseases) because of the neuronal damage from lesions already present. Since neurons are linked in trophic units, this transneuronal degeneration can lead to substantial cell death over time. Removing portions of an animal's brain can be performed to induce transneuronal degeneration. Transneuronal degeneration results after a sudden massive loss of input from the olfactory bulb after it was removed. Removal of the left hemisphere in monkeys caused retrograde transneuronal degeneration of the retinal ganglion cells that affected mainly the foveal rim. This also