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The possibility of creating an artificial heart.
People began to think about the possibility of creating an artificial heart in the 1950s.Then, after we put a man on the moon, there was a general feeling that anything was possible. -
The first artificial heart
The first person to make a successful artificial heart implant into a human was Robert Jarvik, on December 1, 1982 and the name given to this heart was Jarvic-7. The patient was Barney Clark and he survived on the mechanical heart for 112 days. -
The second patient
The second patient, William Schroeder, who received a Jarvic-7 on Novenber 25, 1984, survived for 620 days before dying. But he also suffered medical complications during this time. -
LVAD
The use of LVADs became more common thorughtout the 1990's until a donor heart could be found. The LVAD is a temporary device, not meant to replace the functions of a biological heart. -
Nowadays...
Nowadays, patients with an LVAD can be supported up to five and a half years. 80-85 per cent of patients are alive a year after having an LVAD fitted and 70-75 per cent after two years. This is fantastic considering that many of them would only have had a life expectancy of 12 months or less before their LVAD treatment.