Aussies Invent 'Turbo Booster' for Heart

(Auckland, New Zealand) A 56-year-old man suffering from a weak heart is recovering in Auckland City Hospital after an operation to install a first-of-its-kind device which helps the heart pump blood. According to Dr. William Peters who designed the device with Dr. Paget Milsom,

[T]he key component of the device, developed by Australian company Sunshine Heart Incorporated, was a balloon cuff, similar to a blood pressure cuff, which was wrapped around the patient's aorta.

A sensing wire picks up the heart's electrical signals, allowing the device to time the inflation and deflation of the balloon to the heart beat.

Sunshine Heart - Internal
Driving the device are battery-powered wearable units and plug-in home units which can be turned off occasionally without affecting the patient.

"While we want it to run most of the time to unload the heart, it's safe and expected to be able to turn the device off and disconnect it if you want to have a shower, for example," he said.

"If it fails, the balloon will just collapse and deflate. The heart and the blood vessels are all in their natural state and just carry on as they would."

Dr Peters said unlike other heart pumps, the C-pulse avoided blood contact, reducing the risk of blood clots.

Since the balloon cuff is wrapped around the aorta, it doesn't come into contact with the heart directly, making implantation easier and safer. The overall result is that coronary blood flow nearly doubles with the device. Says Dr. Peters, "It's like a little turbo booster on top of the heart."

In all honesty, the news of this device somehow seems like deja vu. As I recall from my reading, a quite similar technology was pioneered and implemented decades ago in an apparatus used to counter male impotence and loss of libido. Of course, I could be mistaken.