An artificial wireless heart extends the life of patients who are dying of heart failure.

The AbioCor mechanical heart system

The AbioCor heart is the first ever-wireless artificial device that operates like a human heart. It is made of plastic and titanium and is equipped with an internal motor that can move blood through the lungs and to the rest of the body, simulating the rhythm of a heartbeat. An external battery pack transmits power through the skin and recharges the heart's internal battery. This self-contained heart implant fits inside the patient's chest cavity and allows him to walk freely without being strapped to hospital heart machines.

Since the first AbioCor implant surgery last July, five people have received the artificial heart. Three have died; two survive. One of the survivors, 51-year-old James Quinn, was released recently from Hahnemann University Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, approximately 80 days after his heart implant. Mr. Quinn is optimistic about his recovery. "You keep advancing and you want to get better, you keep advancing and you keep going. You don't retreat," he says.

Another AbioCor heart patient is sixty nine-year-old Texan Bobby Harrison. Before his implant surgery on September 26 last year, Mr. Harrison was dying of heart failure. Now, he says his condition has drastically improved. "Before I got the heart I couldn't breathe. I did not have enough air. Now I can get out there and walk and I don't run out of wind."

According to medical experts, the device is designed to double life expectancy for those who had only about 30 days to live before the operation. According to the most optimistic predictions, a patient could currently live up to six months with this artificial heart.

So far, the current heart design only fits in 50% of men and 18% of women. But, Abiomed, the artificial heart manufacturer, announced plans to design a smaller heart for all adults. The trials for the new model will begin in 2004 in the United States and in Europe.

The artificial heart implants will continue in the United States. Nine more people are scheduled to receive the AbioCor wireless heart, hoping to enjoy a longer and better life.

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