Synthetic Heart for Humans

A newly designed artificial heart will soon begin undergoing testing in humans. Unlike previous devices, which were basically designed to keep patients alive while waiting for a transplant, it’s anticipated that the new heart will last at least five years – about 230 million heartbeats.

The CARMAT heart includes an implantable prosthetic and an external power supply. The implant, which is sutured to the upper chambers of the heart (atria), consists of two chambers (ventricles). Each chamber has two cavities – one for the blood to flow through and one that contains an “actioning” fluid – separated by a flexible bio-membrane. Two miniaturized pumps reproduce the movement of the heart wall by increasing and decreasing the pressure of the hydraulic fluid to alternately draw blood in and pump it out. An electrical feedback device senses the patient’s activity and adjusts operation based on their needs (e.g. increasing rate upon exertion).

The device will be tested initially on four to six patients suffering from end-stage cardiac failure. A second phase of the trial will evaluate additional qualitative aspects of the device on up to twenty patients.