Breakthrough Australian heart assist device
A new device for the treatment of congestive heart
failure greatly reduces the risk to patients, is simple to install and can be adjusted to
support different activity levels.
The Sunshine Heart Company, a
Sydney based early stage medical device company, is developing an internally driven
hydraulic heart assistance device. The market for the treatment of end stage congestive
heart failure is potentially very large due to the drawbacks of other treatments such as
heart transplant which is limited by a shortage of donor hearts. A number of companies
have developed blood-contacting pumps to either replace the heart completely or to
supplement the action of the left ventricle. But the risks of blood clots, stroke, and
device failure are high and use is limited by cost, device complexity, and complications.
The company raised funding and gained a Federal Government R&D START grant to develop
the device which is based on the idea of a young New Zealand heart surgeon, Dr William
Peters, known for his pioneering work developing devices and methods for minimally
invasive heart surgery. Working prototypes of both a short term, externally driven,
pneumatic device and an implantable, internally driven, electro-hydraulic device have been
developed and acute animal trials have been completed. Results for the first two clinical
patients fitted with the externally driven device have been excellent.
Sunshine Heart is now raising a second round of venture capital as it moves from
‘virtual’ existence to focus on documentation and rebuilding of the
electro-hydraulic pump in preparation for a pilot clinical study of safety and efficacy.
How it works
The Sunshine Heart augments the heart’s output and induces
recovery by applying counter-pulsation to the outside of the ascending aorta through an
inflatable cuff. The cuff inflates to partially compress the ascending aorta when the
aortic valve is closed and the ventricles are filling. This augments blood pressure and
the amount of blood flowing through the coronary arteries during diastole. The cuff is
timed to deflate as the heart begins to eject blood, effectively reducing the load against
the heart. The device can be placed in the patient in a relatively simple operation and
can be turned on and off if desired, or the level of heart support can be adjusted to the
patient’s activity level.
Internally driven hydraulic heart assist device.
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