Liz Taylor recently underwent some surgery to repair a problem with her heart. A few days later, she said it felt like she had “a brand new ticker.”

She had had an experimental surgery that used a clip device and did not require open heart surgery.

This is just one of the new techniques for treating heart disease that medical science is experimenting with. Heart disease is still the most deadly killer in America, taking over 600,000 lives every year. Click through to read the advances that are being made in treating heart disease in this very interesting article from Forbes.com

The Most Promising New Heart Devices – Forbes.com

“It’s very new and involves repairing my leaky valve using a clip device, without open heart surgery, so that my heart will function better,” she wrote. Heart device aficionados immediately recognized the device as the MitraClip, from Abbott Laboratories ( ABT – news – people ), which is not yet approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Taylor was apparently in one of several ongoing research studies. Two days after the surgery she twittered again: “It’s like having a brand new ticker.”