Skip to main content

This artificial heart could help keep people on transplant waiting lists alive

Carmat TAH 3D video - Presentation

A French company called Carmat has created an artificial heart that could potentially help save the lives of people with end-stage biventricular heart failure. And, no, this isn’t some piece of future tech that won’t be available for another decade or so; it has already been used on actual patients — including one who  had the implanted heart two years ago. And it’s coming to the United States.

“The idea behind this heart, which was born nearly 30 years ago, was to create a device which would replace heart transplants, a device that works physiologically like a human heart, one that’s pulsating, self-regulated, and compatible with blood,” Carmat CEO Stéphane Piat recently told Reuters.

Related Videos

The artificial heart, which weighs about three times what the average human heart weighs, boasts two ventricles — one for blood, the other for hydraulic fluid — separated by a membrane. Hydraulic fluid is moved in and out using a motorized pump, which moves the membrane so that the blood can flow. In-built electronics, sensors, and microprocessors can autonomously regulate the blood flow in response to the activity of the patient, who must carry a bag of actuator fluid, a lithium-ion battery, and a controller.

Heart
Carmat

“Carmat aims to meet a major public health challenge related to cardiovascular diseases, namely heart failure, the leading cause of death in the world,” the company notes on its website. “More specifically, Carmat aims to provide a lasting solution to the treatment of terminal heart failure, a disease for which there are very few effective options today, the main one being heart transplants.”

The artificial heart has reportedly received the necessary CE marking in Europe to show that it is in line with health and safety standards. It received this approval last year, and will launch in both Germany and France in the second quarter of 2021. According to SingularityHub, Carmat has also received U.S. Food and Drug Administration permission for an early feasibility study in the United States. That will take place this year as well.

With thousands of biventricular heart failure patients currently on transplant waiting lists around the world, this could be a massive game changer that helps solve a major real-world problem.

Editors' Recommendations

Myzone’s new fitness wearable uses 2 heart rate sensors for ultimate accuracy
myzone mz switch news wrist

Myzone has launched the MZ-Switch, a versatile heart rate sensor that can be used in three different ways, depending on what exercise you’re doing, to return the most accurate heart rate data available. It’s designed to be worn most of the time, just like a regular fitness tracker, but instead of providing goals based on steps, you collect Myzone Effort Points (MEP) which are awarded for exercise and general physical activity.

Sounds like a spin on most other fitness products, right? There are some key differences that make the MZ-Switch special. Most interestingly, the small tracker takes your heart rate using either photoplethysmography (PPG) technology, like that fitted to the Apple Watch and other wearables, or with a far more accurate electrocardiogram (ECG), often used during intensive exercise by dedicated athletes, all depending on where it’s placed on your body.

Read more
Ceramic ink could let doctors 3D print bones directly into a patient’s body
ceramic ink 3d printed bones bioprinting australia 2

Scientists use a novel ink to 3D print ‘bone’ with living cells

The term 3D bioprinting refers to the use of 3D printing technology to fabricate biomedical parts that, eventually, could be used to create replacement organs or other body parts as required. While we’re not at that point just yet, a number of big advances have been made toward this dream over the past couple of decades.

Read more
Clever ‘nerve hacking’ prosthetic tricks your brain to make limbs feel lighter
Neuro leg experiment

As technology advances, it also typically shrinks in size. The first video cameras were enormous, bulky devices that felt like you were carrying around a shot put on your shoulder. Today, you can get superior recording quality on a smartphone that’s thinner than a deck of cards, and weighs about as much -- or as little.

In some cases, however, there’s a limit to how much you can shrink a piece of technology and still have it be useful. A prosthetic leg for an amputee might be slimmed down to a certain degree, but it still needs to stay at a certain size in order to function as a prosthetic leg. Likewise, reducing the weight of the prosthesis can be achieved by using more lightweight materials, although weight reductions are ultimately limited by the size constraints.

Read more