[mherdeg]

And I think the journal article about this particular process is from 2009 ( http://icvts.oxfordjournals.org/content/10/3/360.short ).

So, hey, points to the BBC for writing an article about something that continues to be interesting instead of something that's "brand new".

[graeham]

I find it fascinating that such an old procedure has been revisited sucessfully (not completely unheard of in medicine either). Perhaps better materials (now a polymer mesh) than used previously (cellophane wrap!).