BiVACOR - Model TAH - Total Artificial Heart Device
The BiVACOR is a total artificial heart designed to take over the complete function of a patient’s failing heart. Implantation of a TAH is a treatment option for patients with end-stage HF who need support while on a heart transplant waiting list or who do not qualify for a transplant. Removal of the native ventricles allows the device to completely replace the function of the native heart.
- Powerful : The centrifugal pumps can provide high flows over 12lpm for dynamic activity.
- Smart : Smart controllers adapt the pump operation to changes in the patient’s activity.
- Durable : An anticipated device life of up to 10 years or more.
- Small : Small enough for a child, powerful enough for an adult.
- Portable : A small external controller and batteries to give patients freedom.
Two centrifugal impellers placed on a single rotor provide perfusion to the left and right sides of the body.
Specially designed pump blades allow high flows and low power consumption.
The device’s patented left-right flow-balancing system allows dynamic adaptation to changes in the patient’s physiology.
Magnetic levitation provides precise, stable operation with no mechanical wear.
Special large gaps within the pump reduce blood-cell damage and the risk of clotting.
The BiVACOR TAH is designed to be a long-term device that can replace the total function of the patient’s native heart. The small, compact device uses proven rotary blood-pump technology to provide the required cardiac output.
The BiVACOR system comprises a magnetically levitated rotor located between opposing pump casings. The key feature that enables this device to support both the left and right sides of the heart is the left and right impeller blades, which are mounted on either side of the rotating hub. The hub is levitated and rotated via an electromagnetic motor and bearing arrangement on top of the pump casings. The dedicated hydraulic design of the impellers, combined with state-of-the-art magnetic levitation (MAGLEV) technology, permits control of the circulation to be fine-tuned by means of a differential fluid output.
An external controller and batteries provide power to the internal device via a percutaneous driveline.