Artificial heart approved

Artificial heart approved

Bethesda, Maryland (dpa) - The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved implants of the world's first artificial heart, press reports in the US said Wednesday.

The artificial heart, called Abiocor and produced by Massachusetts-based company Abiomed, was tested on 14 patients who lived for an average of five months after receiving the implants.

"This device represents a significant advance in artificial heart technology and holds promise for critically ill heart patients who are not candidates for heart transplants due to age or other medical conditions," Daniel Schultz, director of the FDA's Centre for Devices and Radiological Health, said in a statement released Wednesday.

The statement said that the device was suited for "people who are not eligible for a heart transplant and who are unlikely to live more than a month without intervention."

"In clinical studies, this product was shown to prolong the life and improve the quality of life for critically ill patients," the statement added.

The device had been rejected by the FDA last year due to the many side effects of the artificial heart. The device merely prolonged the process of dying and did not offer a life worth living, the FDA said at the time.

The initial group of 14 patients have all died, many from severe strokes that significantly reduced their quality of life.
The authorities have now accepted Abiomed's offer to test the device on a further 25 patients at its own cost.

The internal battery of the Abiocor, the world's only artificial heart that can be fully transplanted, lasts for one hour, after which it must be recharged.

It could cost up to 250,000 dollars.

The longest a patient has survived with the Abiocor is 17 months.

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$250,000 to live an extra 5 months? I think I'd rather save my health insurance company a few bucks to keep cost for everyone down. Yeah, I say that now, lol!

http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_....php?id=112721

like they said, what quailty of life is those 5 months though. i hope i go quick and painless. (most likley at an early age considering all the stupid stuff i do) but it will lead the way for better and better hearts that will allow much longer better lives.

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Originally Posted by Dylan8i

like they said, what quailty of life is those 5 months though. i hope i go quick and painless. (most likley at an early age considering all the stupid stuff i do) but it will lead the way for better and better hearts that will allow much longer better lives.

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I agree, Dylan. Someday we'll have the option to have long-lasting, fully functional biomechanical hearts like Captain Picard.

hell they will be able to replace perfectly good hearts to improve people fitness, and it will be banned in sporting leagues :-)

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Originally Posted by masdog

I agree, Dylan. Someday we'll have the option to have long-lasting, fully functional biomechanical hearts like Captain Picard.

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When I lived in the small southern town of Clyde, NC the old guys in the barbershop there had a great discussion topic: Picard has a super-duper mechanical heart, DNA can be manipulated and fixed, physical damage is repaired with a magic light... So why is Picard still bald?

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Originally Posted by mwfanelli

So why is Picard still bald?

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because it was sexy. (or so some people thought?)

just a guess

So what if you forget to plug it in? :eek: