Development and evaluation of components for a totally implantable artificial heart system

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Cardiovascular Devices
• Implantable Systems

Background:

• Developing fully implantable artificial hearts is crucial for treating end-stage heart failure.
• Existing systems face challenges with power supply, data transmission, and long-term biocompatibility.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the feasibility and performance of a novel electrohydraulic (EH) artificial heart system designed for total implantation.
• To assess critical components including energy transfer, data telemetry, and overall system integration in animal models.

Main Methods:

• Chronic implantation of a pneumatic system in goats and calves to evaluate fitting and survival.
• Acute implantation of the assembled EH pump in goats to measure cardiac output.
• Evaluation of transcutaneous energy transfer (TET) and transcutaneous optical telemetry (TOT) systems in animal models.

Main Results:

• Longest survival times of 111 days in calves and 51 days in goats.
• Achieved cardiac output of 4.2-6.7 L/min in acute goat experiments.
• TET system demonstrated 76-83% DC-to-DC efficiency over 40 days; TOT system tolerated up to 12 mm disalignment.

Conclusions:

• The developed electrohydraulic artificial heart system demonstrates desirable characteristics for total implantation.
• Components like TET and TOT systems show significant potential for reliable function in vivo.
• Further improvements are needed, but the system represents a promising step towards fully implantable artificial hearts.