Every year thousands of Americans have operations to repair or replace faulty heart valves. For most of those people, it means open heart surgery. But now, doctors at Mayo Clinic are using robots to help them perform certain valve operations without opening the chest. There's less pain, shorter hospital stays and many people get back to work in a couple of weeks.

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When it comes to stroke, time is brain. That's because you only have a three hour window after symptoms start to receive medication that's known to help. But people living in small towns may not have access to this medication, because their hospitals may not have staff trained to administer it. Mayo Clinic is hoping to change that. They're studying telemedicine to help stroke victims in rural hospitals get the treatment they need.

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Forty years ago Army Staff Sergeant Walt Myers was exposed to the herbicide Agent Orange in Vietnam. Now he suffers profound muscle weakness in his legs. He was facing the possibility of spending the rest of his life in a wheelchair. But thanks to a special knee brace developed at Mayo Clinic, Walt is walking tall.

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Building a home with his own hands. That was the dream of a man named Ernie Lorenz. But symptoms of ALS, or Lou Gehrig's Disease, made it difficult for Ernie to hold a hammer. The disease was also making it hard for him to breathe. But a new device being researched at Mayo Clinic may help Ernie and other ALS patients breathe easier longer.

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This is Vivien Williams, one of your hosts for the Mayo Clinic Podcasts. We wanted to let you, our listeners know that beginning July 15th, we will be moving our subscription address to a new U-R-L. We apologize for any inconvenience, but anticipate the change will result in a better experience for you and future subscribers. That new address is: podcasts.mayoclinic.org. Our podcasts are running concurrently on both sites right now, so there's no need to wait to make the switch. Go there, and you'll see how easy it is to subscribe, hear our podcasts, and how you can see and hear individual segments all in one place. Again, our current site will remain active up until July 15th, after that point, Mayo Clinic podcasts will only be available at: podcasts.mayoclinic.org Thanks for your continued support.

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Fifty years ago many babies born with congenital heart defects were not expected to live into adulthood. But thanks to advances in medicine, most of these babies can now expect to live long, full lives. That's great news, but the problem is they sometimes don't get the medical care that they need. More from Mayo Clinic.

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At any given time, up to 60-thousand people are waiting for kidney transplants. But unfortunately, there are not enough donor organs to meet that demand. That's where living-donor kidney transplantation can make a big difference. More on what it means to be a living donor from a couple who went through the process at Mayo Clinic.

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Many people with diabetes are at risk of developing wounds on their feet that just won't heal. They're also at risk of getting hardened arteries in their legs, a condition that can be very painful. These issues are what cause some diabetics and some people with peripheral arterial disease to need amputations. But doctors at Mayo Clinic are using a special boot to help prevent amputations and save limbs.

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It's technology the retail industry and libraries have used for some time. Now, doctors at Mayo Clinic are using radio frequency identification to track and trace patient specimens as they go from the procedure room to the lab. Mayo research shows the technology is fast, efficient and helps prevent human errors.

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When it comes to stroke, time is brain. That's because there's a small window of opportunity after symptoms begin for treatment to be effective. The man you're about to meet knows this all too well. He was in a coma from a massive stroke. But thanks to state-of-the art technology at Mayo Clinic that allows doctors to work inside the vessels of the brain without surgery, this man survived.

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