In Australia, a man was kept alive for 100 days on an artificial heart made of titanium while a donor heart was eventually found.
This is the longest-ever period that a man has been kept alive by an artificial heart, giving its developers encouragement that it can play a major role in supporting waiting list patients whose hearts are failing.
5 months ago, a man in his forties received the BiVACOR Total Artificial Heart (TAH) after experiencing heart failure. The TAH has no pumps, valves, or other moving parts susceptible to wear. Instead, magnetic levitation permits a single rotor to pump blood to the body through both ventricles.
He was able to leave the hospital even, before a donor heart was found that was transplanted successfully.
In a statement, BiVACOR, St. Vincent’s Hospital where the surgery was carried out, and Monash University which provided the grant funding for the development of the TAH, said that the result is a sign the artificial heart could potentially offer a long-term option for people suffering from heart failure.
BiVACOR’s founder, Australian bioengineer Daniel Timms, who invented the device, said it was “exhilarating to see decades of work come to fruition.”
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“The entire BiVACOR team is deeply grateful to the patient and his family for placing their trust in our Total Artificial Heart,” he said in the statement. “Their bravery will pave the way for countless more patients to receive this lifesaving technology.”
In the United States, there are around 3,500 donor hearts made available every year for more than 4,400 people who join the waiting list.
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The TAH has already been tested in an early feasibility study in search of eventual FDA approval. 5 patients received the device, CNN reports, with the first being last July, when a 58-year-old man suffering end-stage heart failure received the implant during surgery at Texas Medical Center.
The four others also received it successfully, and organizers hope to expand it to 15 patients.
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