France successfully transplanted the first artificial heart ... - RTVE

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The first artificial heart, composed of biological tissues and miniaturized space components, it has been transplanted on Wednesday at the Georges Pompidou Hospital in Paris (France). This was reported in a statement the company responsible for manufacturing, who has urged caution and wait patient outcomes .

Carmat As explained, this first implementation is has been carried out on a “satisfactory”, and prosthesis “has automatically ensured a normal physiological fluid circulation.” Clinical trials to transplant the organ was recently approved in France, explained the European Space Agency.

A challenge for engineers and surgeons

prosthetic heart is a cardiac surgeon creation of Alain Carpentier , who founded the company Carmat, a subsidiary of EADS, in 2008. The organ the result of 15 years of collaboration with the aerospace giant EADS DS (formerly Astrium, the space subsidiary of EADS), the French Government and a group of investors.

Carmat succeeded in developing its first fully artificial heart in early 2013 with the combination of knowledge of Carpentier, inventor of the most popular artificial heart valves, and space engineers in building Astrium satellites.

The team faced the challenge of developing a device capable of operating in the harsh conditions of the human circulatory system and pumped 35 million times a year for at least five years without interruption .

To do what needed ultimate in reliability, they were able to accomplish in applying design methodologies, testing strategies and expertise in electronic engineering space.

The heart is composed of 900 tiny components that have to function perfection. As with the satellites, the team used sophisticated modeling techniques and digital simulation and set benchmarks to perform rigorous testing and analysis.

French health authorities have considered the prosthetic heart is sufficiently reliable , and authorized the first implants in humans in three hospitals in Paris.

biological and spatial components of the heart

team has focused on developing a capable heart beating like a real one , accelerating or reducing the heart rate depending on the level of effort on your receiver. The body was based on technology developed for European space projects, using some electronic systems equivalent to those installed on the bus of a telecommunications satellite miniature.

heart using space technology, but 100 times smaller

heart uses the same technology, but 100 times smaller. A series of latest technology sensors detect the level of patient effort and send the information to a miniature computer that generates commands for faster or engines of a given size, pumping slow, allowing more or less bring oxygen to tissues and controlling blood pressure depending on the level of activity of the person.

Moreover, the prosthetic heart Carmat has tried to avoid the rejection of the body using a pericardium Animal (the membrane that surrounds the heart) chemically treated to reduce the immune response of the recipient.

device has two chambers separated by a membrane chambers, with the biological tissue on the side that is in contact with the patient’s blood, and polyurethane on the opposite side. The pumping system consisting of motors and hydraulic fluid, changes the shape of this membrane. Artificial valves developed by Carpentier also use this type of biological material.