Space tech powers artificial heart

CHENGDU — A man has been discharged from hospital after being given an artificial heart powered by China’s aerospace technology to replace his failed organ.

The HeartCon device functions as a pump to deliver blood to the whole body, significantly alleviating the symptoms of heart failure.

“I feel much better. I couldn’t stand up before, but now I can live normally with the small device,” the 30-yearold patient, surnamed Li, said.

After months of treatment, he was discharged from West China Hospital of Sichuan University on Monday after his heart condition improved.

Li had been suffering from chest tightness and shortness of breath since 2019. He had waited anxiously for a heart transplant, but there was a lack of donors. His obesity also left him in a critical condition.

On Jan 13, a medical team implanted an artificial heart at the hospital.

“As a lack of donors limits human organ transfers, the artificial heart will be a very promising cure to prolong lives of patients who are in advanced stages of heart failure,” said An Qi, leader of the team and the hospital’s chief heart surgeon.

An said the artificial heart weighs only 180 grams. Implanting a HeartCon requires tiny wires to pass through the patient’s belly to connect to a controller and two external batteries. Each battery lasts for 10 hours.

The patient also gets a shower pack to keep the device from getting wet while bathing.

Li’s device, a third-generation HeartCon, was developed by a technology company affiliated with the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, the country’s leading rocket maker.

Xu Jian, chief engineer of the HeartCon project, said the artificial heart works like a rocket’s servomechanism, which is driven by a hydraulic pump.

A servomechanism uses feedback to control an operation.

“The servomechanism on a rocket has higher requirements of speed and power, while the artificial heart demands more focus on safety and comfort as it is small and needs to be implanted,” Xu said.

Scientists used magnetic and fluid levitation, which are used in rocket servo technology, to make a mechanical pump to support heart functions while causing less damage to patient’s blood than previous types.

The domestically made HeartCon was given a clinical trial permit by the National Medical Products Administration last year.

There are at least 16 million people aged above 35 with failing hearts in China. For patients who are in advanced stages of heart failure, drugs are ineffective. Many die while waiting for a heart transplant.