Hubei man fitted with smallest maglev heart

A 58-year-old pig farm worker from Hubei province was fitted with the world’s smallest magnetic-levitation heart implant at Wuhan Union Hospital in March.

In an update released by the Huazhong University of Science and Technology, with which Wuhan Union Hospital is affiliated, doctors said the man surnamed Chu, who suffered advance heart failure, was making a swift recovery.

The device, which uses the same principle that runs high-speed maglev trains, increases the pumping power of the patient’s failing heart, allowing it to deliver oxygen-rich blood throughout the body.

The device was developed by Shenzhen Core Medical Technology. With a diameter of 3.4 centimeters, a thickness of 2.6 cm and weighing around 90 grams, the entire device is about the size of a walnut.