Brisbane, Australia
CNN
—
An Australian man lived for 100 days with an artificial titanium heart while he awaited a donor transplant, the longest period to date of someone with the technology.
The patient, a man in his 40s who declined to be identified, received the implant during surgery at St. Vincent’s Hospital Sydney last November.
In February, he became the first person worldwide to leave hospital with the device, which kept him alive until a heart donor became available earlier this month.
According to a statement issued Wednesday by St Vincent’s Hospital, Monash University and BiVACOR, the US-Australian company behind the device, the man, who had severe heart failure, was “recovering well.”
The ability of the device to sustain him for so long is being celebrated as a sign the artificial heart could potentially offer a long-term option for people suffering heart failure. The device is still being trialed and has not yet been approved for general use.
BiVACOR’s founder, Australian bioengineer Daniel Timms, who invented the device following his father’s death from heart disease, said it was “exhilarating to see decades of work come to fruition.”
“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.”
How it works
The BiVACOR Total Artificial Heart (TAH) has a single moving part, a levitated rotor that’s held in place by magnets. As the name suggests, it’s constructed from titanium and there are no valves or mechanical bearings that may be susceptible to wear.
It pumps blood to the body and the lungs, replacing both ventricles of a failing heart.
Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death globally killing around 18 million people each year, according to the World Health Organization.
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<span class=”byline__name”>Juliana Liu</span>
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The long-term ambition is to use the device to save more people who languish on waiting lists for suitable donors. According to the US Health Department, about 3,500 people received heart transplants in 2024. Around 4,400 joined the waiting list the same year.
Professor Chris Hayward, from the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute, said the BiVACOR heart ushered in “a whole new ball game for heart transplants.”
“Within the next decade we will see the artificial heart becoming the alternative for patients who are unable to wait for a donor heart or when a donor heart is simply not available,” said Hayward, who is overseeing the Australian patient’s recovery and was involved in preparing the device for clinical trials.
The device has already been tested in the Food and Drug Administration’s Early Feasibility Study in the United States, which saw five patients successfully implanted with the device.
The first was last July, when a 58-year-old man suffering end-stage heart failure received the implant during surgery at Texas Medical Center. It kept him alive for eight days until a donor was available.
Four other patients followed in the study, which examined the safety and performance of the device, while they waited for a donor transplant. It’s hoped the trial will expand to 15 patients.
The Australian implant was the first in a series planned by Monash University’s Artificial Heart Frontiers Program, a 50 million Australian dollar ($31 million) program to develop and commercialize three devices to treat heart failure.