Australia's first durable artificial heart implant has been a success after the recipient became the world's first person to be discharged from hospital with the high-tech device.
During a six-hour operation in Sydney last November doctors implanted the BiVACOR Total Artificial Heart, a mechanical blood pump made out of titanium, into a man who was experiencing severe heart failure.
The man received the implant as a stop-gap until a donated heart became available, but BiVACOR is designed to one day be a permanent replacement for a failing heart.
Doctors hope it could eventually negate the need for human heart donors entirely.
The artificial heart uses magnetic technology to "whoosh" the blood around the body instead of pumping it. (Supplied: BiVACOR)
Renowned cardiothoracic and transplant surgeon Dr Paul Jansz performed the operation at St Vincent's Hospital and said he had been looking forward to it for years.
"We're enormously proud to have been the first team in Australia to carry out this procedure," Dr Jansz said.
The implant pumps blood around the body using a motor with a special mechanism that avoids any mechanical wear between its parts. It uses magnets to suspend the motor's rotor, which means the parts don't rub or wear over time.
The device was designed by Queensland-born inventor Daniel Timms, who has dedicated his life to its creation. Dr Timms said his interest in the idea was first sparked during childhood when he used to spend countless hours with his plumber father, tinkering with water pumps.
Dr Daniel Timms' artificial heart differs to others that have come before which generally don't last longer than a few years. (Image: Australian of the Year Awards)
His father later died from heart failure, which only intensified his passion to make the artificial heart. It involved visits to world-leading cardiovascular institutes all around the world and many, many trips to the hardware store.
"Being able to bring Australia along this journey and be part of the first clinical trials is immensely important to me," Dr Timms said.
"It is incredibly rewarding to see our device deliver extended support to the first Australian patient."
Australian heart invention being trialled in the US
Dr Timms said he was grateful to the patient, a man in his forties from New South Wales, who volunteered to receive the implant while waiting for a transplant. He chose not to be identified.
He lived with the artificial heart for more than 100 days and last week was notified a human heart match had been found. His transplant surgery was also a success and he is recovering well.
Dr Daniel Timms was inspired to create the device after his father died from heart failure. (Supplied: BiVACOR)
The BiVACOR was first implanted in a patient in July 2024 at the Texas Heart Institute, but that patient was never discharged from hospital. Since then four other patients in the US have received them before being matched with donors, but they were never discharged with the implant.
The device weighs around 650 grams, has enough cardiac output for an adult male exercising, and can be controlled externally.
Loading
Dr Jansz said it was fitting that this historic implant was performed at the same place where Australia's first-ever heart transplant took place in 1968. Australia's first successful heart transplant also took place at St Vincent's Hospital, performed by Dr Victor Chang in 1984.
Doctors at the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne are undergoing training and hope to perform their first BiVACOR implantation around mid-2025.
Heart failure kills about 5,000 Australians each year and occurs when the heart becomes less effective at pumping blood around the body. It can come on suddenly but usually develops slowly as the heart becomes weaker.
St Vincent's Hospital Sydney cardiologist Professor Chris Hayward said the BiVACOR artificial heart would become the alternative for patients who cannot wait for a donor heart, or when a donor heart is simply not available.
Australia is in desperate need of more organ donors with a 5 per cent decrease in the total number of transplant recipients last year, while heart transplants were down by 19 per cent.
Want to register to be an organ donor? https://www.donatelife.gov.au/register-donor-today
