Carmat's artificial heart successfully beats inside a 75-year old French patient, who is able to feed himself and chat with his family.
For several decades, heart assistance devices have been used as a temporary solution for patients waiting for heart transplants. However, French biomedical company, Carmat, may improve things for heart patients waiting for implants with its prosthetic product.
Carmat has designed and manufactured the bioprosthetic heart that can replace the real heart over a long period of time, using biological materials and sensors. The artificial heart can beat for up to five years and is aimed to extend life expectancy of patients suffering from terminal heart failure, especially those who cannot hope for a heart transplant because they are too old or due to scarcity of donors.
Previously, Carmat's artificial heart was successfully tested on animals and on December 18, it was tested on humans for the first time at a Paris hospital.
The 75-year old patient who got the first artificial heart implant "is awake, feeding himself and talking with his family." Doctors are also planning to put him on his feet soon.
Carmat, which is a start-up with just around 40 employees, also received a thank you letter from French President Francois Hollande, following the successful implant.
The Carmat prosthetic heart weighs two pounds and is powered by a battery that a patient can wear outside the body. The artificial heart is considered a replica of a human heart that has sensors to speed up blood circulation during exertion and slows it down when a patient is sleeping.
The device is bigger and heavier than a normal human heart, which makes in unsuitable for patients of small build.
In September this year, the French government approved the first four implants of the Carmat artificial heart. Three more patients are now waiting for the implants and the next operation will be performed in early 2014.
The success of the Carmat artificial heart will only be announced if the patient survives for at least one month. If the life saving device works for a month, then the company may seek regulatory approval to make the product available to the entire European Union (EU).
