Celebrating an Artificial Heart Milestone

The human heart is a marvel. Only the size of a fist, this organ pumps blood through vessels to all parts of the body. Advances in medicine have seen heart transplants become commonplace and even the creation of artificial hearts.

Now, in a world first, an Australian man who received an artificial titanium heart in November 2024, was able to leave the hospital and return home while waiting for a donor heart transplant, reported The Guardian . The patient who is in his 40’s volunteered to become the first Australian recipient. He lived with the device for 105 days.

 The researchers and doctors called the BiVACOR total artificial heart an “unmitigated clinical success.” This is an important milestone since 23 million people worldwide suffer from heart failure but only 6,000 receive a donor heart.

The BiVACOR Total Artificial Heart
The titanium BiVACOR total artificial heart was invented by Queensland-born Dr Daniel Timms, and it is a rotary blood pump that can mimic the human heart. The device uses magnetic levitation to replicate the blood flow of a healthy heart.

The artificial heart was designed as a bridge device to keep patients alive while they wait for a human heart and is part of the artificial heart frontiers program that is funded from a grant from the Australian government.

This recent successful heart implant is part of a series of clinical trials, according to a press release from Australia’s Monash University. The first implant of the BiVACOR took place in 2024 at the Heart Institute at Baylor St Luke’s Medical Center. Four more implants occurred in the US.

The Australian implant was the sixth and the first to take place outside of the US. The surgery took place at St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney by the hospital’s cardiothoracic and transplant surgeon, Dr Paul Jansz.

“Being able to bring Australia along this journey and be part of the first clinical trials is immensely important to me and something that I set out to do from the very beginning,” Timms said in the press release.

“It is incredibly rewarding to see our device deliver extended support to the first Australian patient. The unique design and features of the BiVACOR Total Artificial Heart translate into an unmatched safety profile, and it’s exhilarating to see decades of work come to fruition.”

What’s Next?
While over 100 days is a significant milestone, it cannot replace a human heart transplant that can last 10 years (3,000 days) and that’s the goal the researchers are aiming for, reported CNN.

The device has already been tested in a US Food and Drug Administration’s Early Feasibility Study. The plan is to expand the current trial to 15 patients.

St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney cardiologist, Professor Chris Hayward said in the press release that the BiVACOR heart would transform heart failure treatment internationally.

“Within the next decade we will see the artificial heart becoming the alternative for patients who are unable to wait for a donor heart or when a donor heart is simply not available,” he added.