A Brief History
On December 2, 1982, medical history was made when Barney Clark, a retired dentist, received a Jarvik 7 artificial heart at the University of Utah, the first time an artificial heart was implanted meant as a permanent solution and not just a temporary spot holder until a viable heart for transplant could be found.
Digging Deeper
Powered by a pump the size of a dehumidifier or larger, the 1980’s version was not exactly a walk around your house back to normal life type of proposition. Other attempts prior to this had been with devices meant only to temporarily keep someone alive during surgery or awaiting a heart transplant. A similar device evolved from the Jarvik 7 is still used today, and over 1300 of these devices have been used.
Early efforts leading toward this technology started in the late 1940’s, and even earlier efforts to create temporary heart replacement pumps for use during surgery date back to the late 1800’s. These devices were not successful until the discovery of the anti-coagulant Heparin in 1916, and it was not until 1953 that the first open heart surgery was successfully performed. A cardio-pulmonary bypass pump is essential for open heart surgery, as well as heart and or lung transplants, and the device performs the function of both the heart and the lungs during surgery, but only for a few hours. This type of device allows the bypass surgery that has become common, as well as the heart transplant, the first of which took place in South Africa in 1967.
(Note: In 2012 the author’s life was saved by heroic efforts of the surgical staff at the Cleveland Clinic when his aorta blew out in a massive burst aneurysm. Just 4 months later repeat surgery was also performed at the Cleveland Clinic, with the amazing results that the patient is leading a normal life today, thanks in part to the use of the cardio-pulmonary bypass pump. Ironically, the author is allergic to Heparin and was nearly killed by its use during the first surgery!)
Unfortunately, Barney Clark lived only 112 days with his artificial heart, but the second patient to receive the Jarvik 7 lived a truly worthwhile 620 days after implantation.
Today, a variety of heart replacement machines are available to surgeons, both for temporary use and as permanent replacements for defective hearts. There are also machines that do not replace the heart, but assist it in pumping adequately when it cannot on its own. Of course, most of these devices require an outside of the body power source so the patient does not have unrestricted mobility and freedom of activities. Still, these devices are amazing and can save lives for a few months or many years.
A device called the Abio Cor weighs 2 pounds and has an internal battery that is recharged by induction without removal from the chest or invasive wires, but this is only good for a maximum of a year or 2. Obviously, researchers are working on internally powered devices with longer useable lives.
Question for students (and subscribers): Have you or a family member been saved by an artificial heart or by heart surgery using a cardio-pulmonary pump? Feel free to share your experiences with us in the comments section below this article.
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Olsen, Don B. True Valor: Barney Clark and the Utah Artificial Heart. University of Utah Press, 2015.