By Mary Bellis
Artificial hearts date back to the mid-1950s when Dr. Paul Winchell first patented an artificial heart.
The Jarvik 7
In 1982, Seattle dentist Dr. Barney
Clark was the first person implanted with the Jarvik-7, an artificial heart
intended to last a lifetime. William DeVries an American surgeon performed
the surgery. The Jarvik-7 artificial heart was designed by Robert Jarvik.
The patient survived 112 days. "It has been hard, but the heart itself
has pumped right along." - Barney Clark
Creator of the Jarvik-7, Dr. Robert Jarvik is now working on the Jarvik 2000, a thumb-sized heart pump. "This came from the understanding that people want a normal life and just being alive is not good enough." - Dr. Robert Jarvik
New Electric Hearts
The race for the artificial heart.
At the end of 1998 American heart specialist Michael DeBakey performed
a world-first in heart surgery with a totally new device. If this electric
heart proves successful, it could be a permanent alternative to a heart
transplant.
William
Kolff - Artificial Heart
William J. Kolff invented the first
artificial heart and the first artificial kidney-dialysis machine.
Robert
Jarvik - Artificial Heart
Robert Koffler Jarvik, inventor
of the first permanently-implantable artificial heart, was born in Michigan
on May 11, 1946.
Building
a Better Heart
In 1982, a team led by William DeVries
of the University of Utah implanted the Jarvik-7 into a patient named Barney
Clark. He survived with the Jarvik-7 in his chest for 112 days.
The
Human Heart Electrified
Map of the Human Heart - Amazing
Heart Facts - The Artificial Human - Pioneering Surgeon: O. H. Frazier
- Operation: Heart Transplant
Heart
History
The
Heart: An Online Exploration
Related Innovations
Cardiac
Pacemaker
Medical
Innovations.
