The Artificial Heart:

A Design Example

BIOE 1000
October 18, 2001
 The Human Heart
 Heart has four
chambers
 Right chambers
pump blood to lungs
to receive oxygen
 Left chambers pump
oxygenated blood
from lungs to rest of
the body
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 The Human Heart
 Right and left atria receive blood
 Right and left ventricles pump blood
 Valves produce one-way blood flow
from atria  ventricles  arteries
 Energy to pump blood comes from
nutrients and oxygen in blood
 The blood supply to the heart is
provided by coronary arteries
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 Heart Disease
 Heart attack: blockage of coronary artery
damages portion of heart muscle
 Congestive heart failure: gradual weakening
of heart
 Millions suffer from heart disease
– Many cases are treatable with lifestyle changes,
drugs and/or surgery
– Surviving patients suffering from most severe
cases need new hearts!

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 The Need for a Heart
Substitute
 100,000 Americans/year suffering from
severe heart disease need new hearts
 Only 2,000 patients receive heart
transplants
 Conclusion: many patients die waiting
for a new heart!
 A suitable alternative to donor hearts
could prolong thousands of lives

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 History of Heart
Substitutes
 WWII: first open heart
surgeries
 1953: heart-lung machine
successfully used during
heart surgery
 1958: Drs. Willem Kolff and
Tetsuzo Akutsu sustain a
dog for 90 minutes with a
PVC artificial heart
 1967: Dr. Christian Barnard
transplants a donor heart
into a 59 year old man (he
survived 18 days) PVC heart (1958) silicone heart (1965)

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 History of Heart
Substitutes
 1969: Dr. Denton Cooley
uses an artificial heart to
sustain a patient waiting for
a donor (survived 3 days)
 1972: Cyclosporine
introduced to suppress
immune responses of
transplant recipients
 1982: Dr. William DeVries
implants the Jarvik-7 artificial
heart into Dr. Barney Clark
Liotta heart (1969) Jarvik-7 (1982)
(he survived 112 days)

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 Why Heart Substitutes Fail
 Immune response “rejects” transplant or
side effects due to immune suppression
 Infection due to tubes and wires
passing through skin
 Formation of clots
 Damage to red blood cells
 Lack of pulsatile blood flow?

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 Design Process
 Identify the problem or need to address
 Specify details/criteria of an adequate
solution to your problem
 Implement various solutions that meet the
criteria you specified
 Test to determine which solution is most
viable
 Further testing to refine the solution you
chose

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 Design Refinement
Identify Problem
 Process is iterative
– You need to repeat
various steps after Specify Criteria
testing
– Make design changes
based on test results Implement Design
 Failed designs
– Design didn’t meet
Test Design
criteria
– Could be due to
inappropriate criteria Refine Design

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 Criteria for a Heart
Substitute
 Must fit into chest cavity and connect to atria,
pulmonary artery and aorta quickly
 Provide an adequate blood flow (8 – 10
liters/min)
 Send deoxygenated blood to the lungs and
oxygenated blood to the body
 Operate continuously for an indefinite period of
time
 Provide adequate warning if something is wrong
or if it is going to fail
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 Criteria for a Heart
Substitute
 Should increase/decrease blood flow based
on patient activity level
 Should not evoke an immune response
 No wires or tubes that penetrate the skin
 Should not produce blood clots
 Should not damage red blood cells
 Ideally should have pulsatile blood flow
 Many others we haven’t thought of!
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 The AbioCor® Heart
 Implanted into 59 year
old Robert Tools on
July 2, 2001 at Jewish
Hospital in Louisville KY
(96 days)
 Patient is able to walk
around, organs are
functioning normally,
undergoing daily
rehabilitation for
eventual release

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How the AbioCor® Heart
Works
 Hydraulic pump forces
blood to lungs and body
 Power is provided by an
internal rechargeable
battery
 Battery is recharged by
coils on surface and
below skin
 Internal controller
monitors system and
controls pump speed

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 Surgical Procedure
 Implant controller,
battery and coil
 Connect patient to
heart-lung machine
 Cut away ventricles
 Sew grafts onto atria
and arteries
 Connect implants to
grafts
 Remove patient from
heart-lung machine

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 AbioCor® Design Criteria
 Grapefruit size, weighs 2 lbs, requires a 7 hour
surgery for implantation
 Can provide up to 8 liters/min of blood to the
lungs and body
 Has two chambers for pumping deoxygenated
blood to the lungs and oxygenated blood to the
body
 Wireless energy transfer system allows for
continuous operation
 Internal controller monitors operation
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 AbioCor® Design Criteria
 Internal controller increases/decreases blood
flow based on blood oxygen levels
 Materials are inert to the immune system
 Completely contained within the chest – no
wires or tubing through skin!
 Made of special materials and special pump
design to prevent clots and RBC damage
 Pumping alternates between chambers,
creating a pulsatile blood flow

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