SYDNEY, March 11 — In a medical breakthrough, an Australian man became the first patient to be discharged from a hospital with a total artificial heart implant, according to The Guardian.
The British daily reported yesterday that doctors at St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney implanted the BiVACOR total artificial heart in November last year during a six-hour procedure led by cardiothoracic surgeon Paul Jansz.
The patient, a man in his 40s from New South Wales, lived with the device for over 100 days before receiving a donor heart transplant in March.
The BiVACOR artificial heart, developed by Queensland-born Dr Daniel Timms, is the first implantable rotary blood pump designed to fully replace a human heart, using magnetic levitation technology to replicate natural blood flow.
Designed for patients with end-stage biventricular heart failure, the device aims to keep them alive until a donor heart becomes available.
The Australian government provided US$50 million to support the development and commercialisation of the device through its artificial heart frontiers programme.
Five previous BiVACOR implants took place in the US, but all recipients received donor hearts before being discharged, with the longest implant period lasting 27 days.
Cardiologist Prof Chris Hayward said the BiVACOR heart could transform heart failure treatment internationally and may eventually offer a long-term alternative to transplants.
However, Prof David Colquhoun noted that artificial hearts currently last far less than donor hearts, highlighting the need for further development before they can fully replace transplants.
The success of this procedure marks a major milestone for artificial heart technology and signals new possibilities for patients awaiting transplants.