New generation artificial heart implanted in patient

The Texas Medical Center is moving ahead on its Bivacor rotary pump artificial heart.[0] It does not appear that Bivacor is a bridge to a transplant, but rather an end point. They kept a cow alive for many months a few years ago. Since it is a continuous rotary pump, the patient will have no pulse with this device.<p>One of the inventors behind Bivacor is Dr. Billy Cohn, an elite heart surgeon with a strong bent toward innovation. He would have an idea, hit his garage to cut up some plastic mesh, seal it, sterilize it, and be trying it in a patient in a few days. He jokes about Home Depot being his best source of medical equipment. In fact, he tells a hilarious Home Depot story in the middle of his standard talk on medical innovation.[1]<p>[0] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.bizjournals.com&#x2F;houston&#x2F;news&#x2F;2021&#x2F;05&#x2F;19&#x2F;bivacor-medical-device-artificial-heart-funding.html" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.bizjournals.com&#x2F;houston&#x2F;news&#x2F;2021&#x2F;05&#x2F;19&#x2F;bivacor-...</a><p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;youtu.be&#x2F;iHTVTU8PPGk?t=623" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;youtu.be&#x2F;iHTVTU8PPGk?t=623</a>

Interesting to see that it uses bovine derived valves. Does anyone know the reason for that? Are real tissues less likely to cause issues with blood coagulation or have materials coatings caught up enough to solve that problem?<p>Does anyone know where modern thinking on the role of the heart is headed? I was intrigued to run across this article discussing the heart&#x27;s role as more of a hydraulic ram and less of a pump:<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov&#x2F;pmc&#x2F;articles&#x2F;PMC5215277&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov&#x2F;pmc&#x2F;articles&#x2F;PMC5215277&#x2F;</a><p>I don&#x27;t suppose the science is settled, but it is interesting that in the modern age we&#x27;re still debating the function of such an important organ.

As a layman creating a reliable pump that runs on a battery seems like it would be a fairly easy job for with modern technology. Of course anything mechanical is going to require regular maintenance, but again I wouldn&#x27;t expect this to be a difficult problem.<p>What are the complications here? Size? Preventing infection? Does it need to adjust flow rate based on oxygen requirements?

How they spin it as a duke achievement is ridiculously vain. They were not the one inventing the tech nor the first to implant it.

Does anyone have information about the &#x27;external power supply&#x27; of the heart in the linked article? I&#x27;ve found some info that is years out of date and I&#x27;m wondering how unobtrusive the unit is now.

&gt; <i>The Duke patient ... was referred to Duke in June after a sudden, unexpected diagnosis of heart failure. Moore and his wife, Rachel, recently adopted their two-year-old foster son, Marshall, and arrived at Duke expecting only to undergo heart bypass surgery.</i><p>39-year-old admitted to the hospital with unexpected heart failure? Is there more to this story? Is this possibly related to the myocarditis being reported with some mRNA reactions?

Tiny nuclear hearts is the future

I just want something like this for my next kidney transplant, I&#x27;m so sick of the meds, yes I&#x27;m blessed to be alive and living a really good life, but man the 2nd kidney is starting to give me anxiety. Context: Transplant isn&#x27;t a cure to my autoimmune disease, it will slowly pick away at the graft and have me needing another. Love reading about this kind of stuff.

First artificial heart inventor - <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.m.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Vladimir_Demikhov" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.m.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Vladimir_Demikhov</a><p>(Albeit non-human)

What improvements and regressions does it have versus the old gen &quot;well established&quot; commercialized artificial heart?

I really feel for those that receive these implants and live with it for a few days more. The first such implant receiver lived for 3 months only. The next one maybe 1.5 years.<p>Personally I would have preferred to die rather than put a battery and pump inside my body as a heart.