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Innovators of Artificial Organs

Organizations

Abiomed

Jarvik Heart, Inc

SynCardia Systems, LLC

SynCardia Systems first announced their artificial heart in 2001 and was approved in 2004 by the FDA. The company is making a device called "CardioWest Total Artificial Heart". It replaces the patient's heart and helps to function the blood flow system efficiently. The device helps patients stay alive until a matched donor is found(I1).

Abiomed (NASDAQ: AMBD) is the leading provider of medical devices that provide circulatory support. The products are designed to enable the heart to rest by improving blood flow and/or performing the pumping of the heart (I2). The device called "Impella" helps to access blood flow and support the right heart system.

Jarvik Heart company created a device called, "The Jarvik 2000" that is small enough to fit inside the left ventricle. Larger VADs need a “pump pocket” that can create a site for discomfort and possible infection. However, "the Jarvik 2000" does not require a pump pocket because of its small size(I3).

Professor Larry Hench 

Dr. Willem J. Kolff

Alexander Seifalian

Seifalian is a director and professor of nanotechnology and regenerative medicine at Nanotechnology and Regenerative Medicine Ltd. His projects led to the development of cardiovascular implants using nanomaterials and stem cell technology. It also led to the development of organs using tissue engineering and nanoparticles for detection and treatment of cancer. He has also evolved a family of nanomaterials and nanocomposite polymers for a range of biomedical applications (I4).

 Professor Larry Hench is the inventor of bioglass and children’s author. Hench discovered bioglass in 1969, just five years after earning his Ph. D. from Ohio State University, where he also learned that his bioglass was the first synthesized material that interacted with the body to initiate healing. Because of this invention, the field of regenerative medicine was made, that includes artificial organs. Hench explained about ways materials could improve quality of life for the aged or injured by replacing or regrowing not just bones and teeth, but urethra, trachea, cartilage, and even organs such as kidneys (I5). 

Dr. Willem Kolff is a resourceful Dutch physician who invented the first artificial kidney in a hospital during World War II, using sausage casings and orange juice cans. He is known as the father of artificial organs. His artificial kidney evolved into modern dialysis machines for cleansing the blood of people whose kidneys have failed, preserving countless lives.  Kolff contributed by creating the first artificial kidney. He later went on to build the world's first artificial heart but he died (I6). 

Important Individuals Who Contributed to Artificial Organs

Universities

Massachusetts Institutes of Technology

Columbia University

Penn State University

MIT offers many programs that researches on the medical field. Scientists at MIT, recently developed a new material that can protect and tighten skin, and smooth wrinkles temporarily. With further research and development, it could also be used to deliver drugs to help treat skin conditions such as eczema and other types of dermatitis (I8).

Columbia University provides a artificial organs research lab called "Postdoc Opening". The school established many research lab fields of Cardiac, Neuroengineering, Stem cell. Microscale/Nanotechnology, and orthopedics researches (I9). Recently, the university came up with an idea of human grafts using stem cells in conjunction with biomaterial scaffolds custom-designed to mimic the native tissue matrix and advanced bioreactors (I10)

Penn State offers a program that researches on artificial organs. It is mainly centered around the artificial heart left ventricular assist devices (VAD), and the pediatric ventricular assist device. Investigators in these areas study computational methods to determine blood flow in the heart and around valves, and use particle imaging velocimetry and modeling to continually improve VAD design. The VAD design could potentially be a great help in the medical field(I7).

Products Made by Global Companies 

Abiomed

Jarvik Heart, Inc

SynCardia Systems, LLC

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The Impella 2.5 pulls blood from the left ventricle through an inlet area near the tip and expels blood from the catheter into the ascending aorta. The pump can be inserted via a standard catheterization procedure through the femoral artery, into the ascending aorta, across the valve and into the left ventricle (I12). This device is the smallest heart pump in the world.

Valveless Jarvik 2000 held is about the size of a C battery. Within its welded titanium shell sits a direct-current motor, a rotor supported by two ceramic bearings, and a single moving part: a small, spinning titanium impeller that pumps blood from the heart at up to 8.5 liters per minute. Rather than take over for the biological heart, the Jarvik 2000 augments the weakened heart’s blood output to help restore a normal blood flow throughout the body (I13). However, it is too heavy for patients in there body and makes loud noises due to moving parts.
 

The SynCardia temporary Total Artificial Heart is the only device that eliminates the symptoms and source of end-stage biventricular heart failure. The device provides immediate, safe blood flow of up to 9.5 liters per minute through each ventricle. This high volume of blood flow helps speed the recovery of vital organs, helping make the patient a better transplant candidate. There have been more than 1,250 implants of the Total Artificial Heart, accounting for more than 350 patient years of support (I11).

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