AbioCor

AbioCor is an artificial heart developed by the Massachusetts-based company AbioMed. It is fully implantable within a patient, due to a combination of advances in miniaturization, biosensors, plastics and energy transfer that has made this advance possible. The AbioCor runs on a rechargeable source of power and is being tested in clinical trials in preparation for approval by the Food and Drug Administration.

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As of September 2004, 14 patients have been implanted with the AbioCor heart. Most of these patients have died. For a patient to be eligible for implantation with the AbioCor, the person must have severe heart failure (with failure of both ventricles) and must be likely to die within two weeks without transplantation. The first patient to receive the AbioCor, Robert Tools, was implanted on July 2, 2001. He lived for 151 days before having a fatal cerebrovascular accident. Tom Christerson lived for 512 days after receiving the AbioCor, dying on February 7, 2003.

Artificial heart: An artificial heart is a device that is implanted into the body to replace the original biological heart. It is distinct from a cardiac pump, which is an external device used to provide the functions of both the heart and the lungs. Thus, the cardiac pump need not be connected to both blood circuit...

Massachusetts: Massachusetts (officially, The Commonwealth of Massachusetts) is a state in the New England region of the United States of America. Its nickname is the Bay State. Other nicknames are the Old Colony State, and less commonly the Puritan state and the Baked Bean state. On December 18, 1990, the Legisl...

AbioMed: ABIOMED is a company based in Danvers, Massachusetts which builds the AbioCor Artificial Heart, the first fully implanted device of its kind....