Artificial heart to be a reality soon, expect researchers

By Dr. Ananya Mandal, MDApr 29 2010

There is good news for heart patients waiting in line for a heart transplant. A team of researchers in Queensland, Malaysia, Germany and Japan are working on an artificial heart. They plan to try it first in sheep.

There are more than a hundred people with severe heart failure who are waiting for a new heart from a donor said the Heart Foundation. Also elderly patients over 65 years of age are at a higher risk with a traditional heart transplant. These factors mean that this artificial heart could be a huge advance in this field.

The Federal Government yesterday announced a grant of more than $70,000 for development of this artificial heart that is a small device that can perform functions of both the left and right sides of the heart. It is a pump device and can be inserted into the chest cavity and attached to the heart. There are small electromagnets in the device that allow the twin rotors of the pump to alter the speed and position to match the demands of the blood flow as per the patient’s physical and emotional state. It can increase the life span of the patient by nearly 10 years say researchers with significant improvement in the quality of life.

Associate Professor John Fraser, from Brisbane's Prince Charles Hospital announced the plans for trying out the machine in sheep by end of this year. He hoped it will be ready for human use in the next “two to three years.” But he also emphasized the need for more testing and more funds in connection before humans could be given this artificial heart. “Obviously we wouldn't want to rush that. It's important that it's absolutely right before we put it in any patient,” he said. He feels the government should be more supportive. “It's sad that we haven't had more support from the Government yet, but it's one step at a time… We understand money's tight around the place and people need to see proof of the pudding and we continue to do that….We've got money also coming from the German universities, and I'm over in Malaysia just now actually speaking to their prime minister.”

BiVacor Pty Ltd is working with Dr Fraser's team to make the artificial heart widely available commercially.