An Australian man lived with artificial titanium hearts for 100 days while waiting for a donor to transplant, the longest period so far for people using the technology.
The man, who was in his 40s, declined to be named and underwent implantation at the St. Vincent Hospital in Sydney last November.
In February, he became the first person in the world to bring the device, which kept him alive until the heart donors available earlier this month.
According to a statement issued on Wednesday, March 12, a man with severe heart failure “recovered well” by St. Vincent Hospital, Monash University and the U.S.-Australian company behind the device Bivacor.
The device is able to maintain his ability for so long to be celebrated because the artificial heart may offer long-term options for people with heart failure. The device is still under trial. And no approval for general use has been obtained.
Bivacor founder Daniel Timms, an Australian bioengineer who invented the device after his father died of a heart attack, said it was “exciting to see decades of work achieved”.
“The entire Double Tigers are very grateful to the patients and their families for their trust in our human heart,” he said in a statement. “Their heroism will pave the way for countless more patients to obtain this lifesaving technology.”
The Double Tiger Total Artificial Heart (TAH) has a single moving part, which is a suspended rotor secured in place with a magnet. As the name suggests, it is made of titanium and there are no valves or mechanical bearings that can be easily worn.
It pumps blood into the body and lungs, replacing the two ventricles of the failed heart.
According to the World Health Organization, cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide, with approximately 18 million people killed each year.
The long-term ambition is to use the device to save more people struggling on the waiting list for the right donors. According to the U.S. Department of Health, about 3,500 people have received heart transplants in 2024. About 4,400 people joined the waiting list in the same year.
Professor Chris Hayward of Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute said the heart of the double heart is in the “new heart transplant ball game.”
“Over the next decade, we will see artificial hearts becoming an alternative to patients who cannot wait for donor hearts or simply cannot have donor hearts,” Hayward said.
The device has been tested in an early feasibility study by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which has successfully implanted the device in five patients.
