An Australian man in his mid-40s with severe heart failure has survived 105 days with an artificial heart made of titanium.
The implant, known as the BiVACOR Total Artificial Heart, was fitted in November 2024 following a six-hour procedure at St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney.
The titanium device was invented by biomedical engineer Dr Daniel Timms, founder and chief technical officer of US-based BiVACOR.
It has so far been successfully implanted into five patients in the US, the first taking place on 9 July 2024 at the Texas Heart Institute at Baylor St Luke’s Medical Center in the Texas Medical Center.
The device is used as a stopgap for people with heart failure who are waiting for a donor heart.
The Australian man is the sixth person to be fitted with the device, and the first outside of the US.
Unlike the other five who remained in hospital for the duration of the implant, he was discharged and led a relatively normal life.
Over three months later, on 6 March 2025, he underwent surgery...