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Australian man survives 100 days with artificial heart in world-first success (www.theguardian.com)
submitted 2 years ago by to c/technology@lemmy.world
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[–] 298 points 2 years ago (2 children)

The Australian researchers and doctors behind the operation announced on Wednesday that the implant had been an “unmitigated clinical success” after the man lived with the device for more than 100 days before receiving a donor heart transplant in early March.

Just in case anyone else also found the title ambiguous regarding whether "100 days" meant he died 😅

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  • [–] 5 points 2 years ago

    There's been a lot of cases at the start of transplant tech where people have willingly gone through the surgery, knowing they would almost certainly die, and their living 100days was counted as a massive success.
    The fact this guy lived 100 days, got a donor heart, and is still, currently, alive... that's icing.

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    • [–] 131 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (9 children)

    Did some fuckin’ Aussie heart surgeon just breeze into a Home Depot and saunter into the plumbing aisle in his board shorts and flips flops and just whip together a heart out of brass fittings and teflon tape???

    “Oi! DANNY, YA FUCKIN’ BOGAN! I DONE DID YA UP A NEW RICKY TICKEY—ALL FUCKIN’ SHINEY AND CHROME!!! GRAB A CARPET KNIFE AND SOME DUNNY GLOVES—WE’ll GET THIS FUCKER INTO YOUR BLUDGER CHEST BEFORE YA SHEILA SAYS YA WERE CHUCKING A SICKIE!”

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  • [–] 26 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    Function over form, I suppose. I am pretty sure it's mostly made of titanium and silicone.

    It does seems like that sometimes tho, that surgeons are the mechanics of the human body, fixing you up in the most crude ways, as long as it gets the job done.

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  • [–] 5 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

    That's the reason a friend of mine once said that surgeons are the only Doctor meds he has respect for.

    Also, what do you mean form follows function? It looks like a fricking mini turbo charger 😎

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    [–] 88 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    First of all: congratulations. Seriously. This is awesome! Secondly: you designed the most Steampunk looking heart you could. Bravo, truly a capital marvel of fine craftsmanship.

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    • [–] 40 points 2 years ago (3 children)

    Apparently you can live with a BiVACOR TAH for around 10 years without replacement due to the Maglev system inside it.

    Gosh it feels like cyberpunk 2077 is just a few years away, we just need more corporate built cities.

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  • [–] 10 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    oh yay, a techno dystopia, just wait for the repo men after you miss your heart payment

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  • [–] 5 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    This is Australia, so the patient would be out of pocket about $2.50 for parking at the hospital.

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  • [–] 4 points 2 years ago

    Canada's the same except we have serious parking mafia and it's c$20.

    When my dear friend suffered a Widowmaker heart attack, and they lit up and staffed a theatre on an early holiday Sunday morning for a brace of stents, he didn't have to sell his house to make payments for it... Because it was c$20 for parking and a bit more for some really bad coffee. Costs were borne by all of us and it was pre-paid from taxes.

    Dude survived and annoys us with his sarcasm and piss-takes to this day.

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    • [–] 24 points 2 years ago* (4 children)

    This might be sort if news. I know a guy that had a pump for a heart it pumped the same non stop pressure and he wore a satchel type battery pack forever but functioned fairly normal. Always had to keep extra batteries around and the internal pump had a backup of 30 to 45 mins. This was 15 years ago.

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  • [+] 19 points 2 years ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)
    [deleted]
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  • [–] 17 points 2 years ago*

    So his heart was pronounced dead, it didnt function but was left inside I think. I always wondered his abilities and I asked once that very question, particularly towards having sex lol. He used to be an alcoholic and could no longer drink as it would thin the blood and thus mess with the pumping ability.

    I don't recall him ever doing anything strenuous and truthfully don't recall his answer to that question but seems like he joked that he could still do it with a woman. He walked slow, talked slowish labored sort of, laughed sheepishly like a labored laugh. Generally looked sick like you can imagine. He drove cars and that's about all I remember. Im unsure if he could turn it up maybe? I haven't spoken with him in a decade. I don't even know if he is still alive.

    He got robbed/mugged in a big city about 10 years ago, the mugger took his satchel containing his medical battery bank despite him explaining the battery pack and pleading at gunpoint on a downtown street. He nearly died and an ambulance couldn't arrive in time. A stranger he flagged on the street transported him to a hospital where they somehow got him hooked up to a new battery system. They said he had mere minutes left on the internal battery inside his pump. That was the last info I heard of him. Wild to think about and he told the robber it was a medical pack but they thought it was a laptop bag and took it anyhow, it was more square like a car battery than a satchel but more vertical shaped like a rectangle.

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  • [–] 13 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Sounds like a Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD)! They’re still being used today, although usually as a bridge to transplant rather than definitive therapy.

    This new development is definitely exciting though, hopefully it will offer a new longer term alternative for patients :)

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  • [–] 3 points 2 years ago

    I don't recall him ever having a transplant done but again as I said below in the long story you might find interesting. I haven't heard from him in years. It was certainly wild to think about and to realize he has no heartbeat anymore. I'll ask a family member what ever come of him. Hopefully all is well with him. Who knows.

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  • [–] 7 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Sounds like a Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD). Interestingly enough, with the older implants there is no detectable heartbeat under a stethoscope due to the way the pump functions. Pretty surprising when you're expecting to find one, and has led to it being unoficially dubbed VLAD in reference to the creatures of the night.

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  • [–] 4 points 2 years ago

    This rejogs a partial memory. I do recall he said he no longer has a heart beat. He told me his heart was pronounced dead part or the whole thing I am unsure. I gave a decent story and better description below in another comment.

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    [–] 22 points 2 years ago

    That thing looks so steampunk, I’m kinda jealous.

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    [–] 20 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    That's fuckin' nuts.

    Also, this headline is bad. I thought he died. No. He just got a transplant after 100 days (whew).

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    • [–] 20 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    How does this handle activities that require increased blood flow? Does it have a little rheostat you crank to 11 when it's time to go for a jog or something?

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    • [–] 14 points 2 years ago (4 children)

    Not to belittle this accomplishment, but how is this a "World's First" success?

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_heart

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  • [–] 29 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Because I read the article I actually know the answer! It's the first time this technology has been used in a human, and it's been a huge success so far. Quote from the article

    The BiVACOR total artificial heart, invented by Queensland-born Dr Daniel Timms, is the world’s first implantable rotary blood pump that can act as a complete replacement for a human heart, using magnetic levitation technology to replicate the natural blood flow of a healthy heart.

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  • [–] 7 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    It would be nice if the article said if the artificial heart includes functions such as pumping harder in response to exercise and such, because it isn't entirely clear if it does

    Maybe it's implied, but I feel it should be explicitly mentioned

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  • [–] 4 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Other prosthetic/mechanical changes to hearts don't do that, so I would guess this one doesn't either. It would require interfacing with the brain and decoding stimulus, which would be much more complex.

    Usually the recipents just keep activity low or pass out when they need the energy/heat dissipation and can't get it.

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    [+] 11 points 2 years ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 child)
    [deleted]
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    • [–] 8 points 2 years ago

    Now time to make it look like some DeusEx heart

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    [–] 6 points 2 years ago

    Rare humanity win.

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    [–] 6 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    I wonder if there'll ever be artificial heart that would last for decades, I imagine that would save lots of people.

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    [–] 4 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    I remember reading about this years ago. It's so cool seeing it being used successfully in a patient! Technology like this makes me feel better about the future.

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    [–] 4 points 2 years ago

    Now this is fucking cool! Sure it will probably take some time to become affordable, but that it's possible at all is awesome.

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