CANCUN, Mexico - A small medical electronics research and development
company in Mexico City unveiled a prototype for a low-cost artificial heart
at the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society conference here
Friday (Sept. 19.)
Researchers at InnovaMedica SA (Mexico City) believe their pneumatic heart
will be a third the cost of traditional artificial hearts, opening the door
to many people in Latin America who need but can't afford such a device.
Cost savings come primarily from the fact the device is made from injection
molded silicone rather than titanium. The valves also are injection molded
in four-piece molds, further reducing manufacturing costs compared to
traditional devices.
The heart is designed to be both reusable and flexible across a range of
uses. It can be used either as a short-term external pump during an
operation or while a patient is awaiting a permanent transplant, or it can
be used as a permanently implanted device. It can also be used to assist one
or both ventricles.
InnovaMedica hopes to see first use of the device as an external pump for
short-term care in a patient early next year.
The first-generation artificial hearts all were pneumatic designs, but
subsequent generations have used electric motors or other kinds of pumps,
aiming for smaller size and greater robustness.
Nevertheless, pneumatic pumps remain the most used devices, according to a
paper from InnovaMedica presented here. "We believe that there is still a
future for pneumatic devices, and with all of the clinical knowledge gained
and the recent advances in biomaterials and coatings, significant
improvements are possible," the paper said.
The company's device is controlled by a PC/104-based console that's smaller
than a desktop computer, but at 15 kilograms needs to be wheeled, not
carried. Subsequent generations aim to have the external electronics in a
wearable form factor. The console can store or relay the status and
performance of the device to remote locations via wired or wireless links.
Separately, the company has developed an impedance spectrometer aimed at the
new application of detecting early signs of shock in the gastro-intestinal
system for patients in an operating room or intensive care unit. Trials of
the device will begin in October when the company expects to receive a
custom four-electrode tip from Tyco Medical.
The three-year-old InnovaMedica employs about 15 people and has sustained
itself to date on contract R&D. The artificial heart was funded by Vitalmex
Internacional S.A. which owns the intellectual property behind the device.
The company has applied for three patents on the heart and has already
garnered three on the spectrometer.