Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
power from a totally self-contained device for more than 30 minutes or so; thus, external
power must be provided at all times. This can be through transcutaneous electrical cables
that leave the patient prone to infection or via electromagnetic induction through the skin.
An interesting alternative is the distributed artificial heart (DAH). Instead of inserting a
single high-capacity ventricular pump, smaller pumps supply the brain, limbs, and internal
organs separately. Because these devices are low power and well separated, heat dissipation
is no longer an issue. Disadvantages include a higher component count with its associated
reliability concerns and more hardware that must be accommodated in the body (Abe,
Ono et al., 2000).
8.4.1 History
After emigrating from Holland, Willem Kolf joined the Cleveland Clinic as a research
assistant. Within 7 years he and Dr. Tetsuzo Akutsu were testing primitive artificial hearts
in animals to identify problems that might be encountered if such a device were to be later
implanted in a human patient.
In 1963 the first patented artificial heart was developed by ventriloquist Paul Winchell,
with help from Henry Heimlich (for which the Heimlich maneuver is named). Winchell
subsequently assigned the patent to the University of Utah, where Robert Jarvik ultimately
used it as the model for the Jarvik-7. This generation of artificial hearts were all powered
pneumatically and required large external compressors and control systems.
8.4.1.1 Liotta-Cooley Heart
The Liotta-Cooley heart, shown in Figure 8-12, was the first temporary artificial heart
implanted in a human being. It was developed by Domingo Liotta and implanted by
surgeon Denton Cooley of the Texas Heart Institute on April 4, 1969. The recipient,
Haskell Karp, lived for 64 hours with the artificial heart until a human heart became
available for transplant (Cooley, 2003).
The heart was a pneumatic, double-ventricle pump with Wada-Cutter hingeless valves
to control the direction of blood flow. The two pump chambers (ventricles), the cuff-shaped
FIGURE 8-12
Photograph of
the original
Liotta-Cooley heart
now in the National
Museum of
American History.
