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Three-G Heart-Helper Pump Tested

From Terumo Heart Inc.

The hockey-puck sized DuraHeart pump uses magnetic levitation technology to push blood from the heart to the body. It connects to the heart and an external battery that drives the motor.

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SUNCOAST NEWS STAFF REPORT

Published: August 13, 2008

Late last month a man who held a high-stress job became the first person in the United States to receive a high-tech implantable heart-assist device that uses technology derived from high-speed trains.

Surgeons at the University of Michigan Cardiovascular Center gave Anthony Shannon, 62, the DuraHeart, the experimental and cutting-edge heart-helper, during a July 30 operation.

The DuraHeart uses magnetic-levitation, or maglev, technology to push blood out of the device and into the body.

Maglev technology powers high-speed trains that have been built in Germany, Japan and China. A number of maglev train lines have been proposed in this country none have yet been constructed.

In maglev powerful magnets suspend a train above a guide-rail track and usually helps propel the train down the track, often reaching speeds in excess of 350 mph.

By using the maglev technology, a crucial, constantly revolving part within the hockey puck-sized DuraHeart never touches the walls of the pumping chamber. Researchers believe this will reduce the sort of damage earlier generations of heart-assist devices can inflict on red blood cells. It is also thought to reduce the likelihood that potentially life-threatening blood clots will form within the device.

The DuraHeart is used to support the left side of the heart in patients in heart failure. The left side of the heart receives oxygen-rich blood that has past through the lungs and then pumps it toward the brain and the other organs of the body.

While about 70 people have received DuraHeart implants in Europe, where it was approved for clinical use last year after a research trial, Shannon was the first person in this country to be given the pump.

"The DuraHeart gives us a new, third-generation option for patients with advanced heart failure who need help to allow them to survive until they can receive a heart transplant," says Dr. Francis Pagani, a surgeon who leads the U-M Center for Circulatory Support. Pagani was the lead surgeon during the DuraHeart implant for Shannon.

Shannon, the former head of homeland security and emergency management for Wayne County, Mich., began suffering heart failure after years of heart attacks caused by blockage of his coronary arteries.

The DuraHeart was invented and developed by a team led by Dr. Chisato Nojiri, the chief executive officer of Ann Arbor, Mich.-based Terumo Heart. Pagani is an unpaid consultant to Terumo Heart.

The DuraHeart will be tested in this country in a clinical trial that will enroll about 140 patients and as many as 40 hospitals. For more on the DuraHeart trial visit http://www.umms.med.umich.edu/engage/detail_pub_st....

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