In early February, an Australian in his 40s became the first in the world to leave the hospital with a virtually unbreakable metal heart.
The “pulsation” in his chest was a kitten sized titanium pump. For 105 days, the metal organ surface propeller pressed blood against the man’s lungs, keeping him alive while he was doing his usual business.
On March 6th, when the human donor hearts became available, the male titanium hearts were replaced for the real thing. Doctor say Without the metal stop gap, the patient’s real heart would have failed before the donor was available.
With his true heart, the man could only walk 10-15 meters without experiencing shortness of breath.
Now he’s doing things he couldn’t do for many years, says Chris Hayward, director of the surgical team at St. Vincent Hospital in Sydney, says the procedure has been done.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mpxvw2tj64 frameborder = “0 ” Alow =”accelerometer;autoplay;clipboard wide;encrypted media;gyroscope;picture-in-picture;web-share “referrpolicy =” strict-origin-when-cross-origin “approakfullscreen>
Paul Jants, lead surgeon; I said press In Australia, the invention isA complete game changer“And the event gave him a ‘goose bump’.
The radical and pioneering achievements have been in almost 25 years. Last year, the first human implants in titanium hearts owned by a medical device company Vivacolla 58-year-old American man lived for eight days before the donor heart became available.
Now with the first implant outside the US The sixth overall attempt It gives us a glimpse of the true long-term potential of this invention.
“The total artificial heart of the whole new ball game for heart transplants, both Australia and internationally, will guide you.” say Hayward.
“In the next 10 years, we will see that artificial hearts will be an alternative to patients who cannot wait for their donor’s heart, or when the donor’s heart is simply unavailable.”
Daniel Timmes, an Australian biomedical engineer, has it I’m working on a mechanical mind It can replace something that has been severely damaged since his father’s heart attack in 2001. As the son of a plumber, Tim began on the floor of a hardware store, connecting pipes and valves to mimic the human circulation system.
To see his invention, after numerous design iterations and animal studies, saving the lives of Australians with severe heart damage is a perfect moment for TIMM.
“To bring Australia along this journey and become part of our first clinical trials is very important to me and is something I’m trying to do from the start.” say Timms.
“The entire Bivacor team is deeply grateful that our patients and his family have placed their trust in our entire artificial heart. Their courage will pave the way for countless patients to receive this life-saving technique.”
No one knows how long Bivacor’s total artificial heart lasts in the human body, but the lab continues to design. 4 years and count. Not very durable artificial heart It can last for years in some patients waiting for a transplant.
Unlike these other versions, Bivacor’s TIMMS and researchers designed the titanium heart to be “substantially unbreakable.” To resist wear and corrosion, metal organs contain only one moving part. The magnetically floating rotor rotates between the two chambers without touching the hard surface.
This means that friction cannot cause damage over time. Only the external battery that comes out of the abdomen needs to be replaced.
Another perk for Titanium Heart is its size. Unlike other artificial hearts made by bending membranes and valves, the 650 gram titanium heart is compact and can fit comfortably inside your chest woman Or even a child About 12 years old.
But despite its size, researchers say they can maintain fully grown men during exercise.
Every year Less than 6,000 heart transplants Even though it takes place all over the world, donor organs are the only way to save millions of people at risk of imminent death and with serious heart damage.
Over the past 20 years, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Approved Commercial sale of one artificial heart to buy more time for patients.
Bivacor is not yet available for commercial sales, but if this continues to work well in clinical trials, it certainly is only a matter of time.
This year, four more devices will be able to use implants in Australia via the Monash University Artificial Heart Frontier Program.
