Maglev titanium heart now whirs inside the chest of a live patient

08-02-2024 • arclein

BiVACOR, which has been working on the device since 2013, says that the advantage of using a magnetically levitated rotor to drive the device's blood-circulating function is that there is no friction, which can be such a damaging force to machinery that scientists are looking at ways to reduce its effects. The device is by no means the first artificial heart to be used ?" the first successful implant took place in 1969 ?" but it is the first to employ this novel use of maglev technology. The roughly fist-sized TAH uses a small rechargeable external controller to keep it whirring along and it is able to push through blood at the rate of 12 liters per minute, which is enough, BiVACOR says, to allow an adult male to engage in exercise. The company also points out that other artificial hearts rely on flexible polymer diaphragms to pump blood, but such components can wear out. With just one part suspended in space through magnetism ?" and no valves ?" BiVACOR's heart could technicall