Miniaturized Heart Pump Uses NASA Technology To Extend Lives

Some of the same technology that propels astronauts into space in the Shuttle is helping keep people alive.

There are approximately 5 million people in the U.S. suffering from congestive heart failure (CHF), the number one cause of death in the developed world. One half of people initially diagnosed with CHF will die within five years. MicroMed Cardiovascular (OTC BB: MMCV) is working to save them with a new heart pump called the DeBakey VAD® (Ventricular Assist Device).

Heart transplantation can only help a few late-stage CHF victims. Out of an estimated 70,000 to 100,000 people in the U.S. who could benefit from a heart transplant each year, only about 2,000 suitable donor hearts become available. Ventricular Assist Devices (VADs) offer mechanical assistance to an ailing heart, either as a temporary solution (termed "Bridge to Transplant") or, potentially for some patients, as a permanent alternative ("Destination Therapy"). Until recently, the size and weight of commercialized VADs have been drawbacks to even these life-saving options.

Currently in U.S. clinical trials, MicroMed's DeBakey VAD® has been implanted in more than 340 patients. Weighing in at just 92 grams, it is 1/10th the size of the most popular VAD now in commercial use, and uses axial flow pump technology originally developed to meet NASA's reliability requirements for the Space Shuttle's fuel pump. It is the result of research and development begun in 1988 by famed heart surgeon Dr. Michael E. DeBakey and Dr. George P. Noon from Baylor College of Medicine and NASA engineers.

The DeBakey VAD has been granted the CE Mark for bridge-to-transplant, destination therapy and pediatric use. It is the only fully implantable VAD approved for use in children, both in the U.S. and Europe, with some patients as young as five years old.

MicroMed is conducting Bridge to Transplant and Destination Therapy clinical trials of the DeBakey VAD in more than 30 hospitals across the U.S.

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The DeBakey VAD® is an investigational device and is limited by federal law for investigational use in the United States.

SOURCE: MicroMed