A French team, headed by Dr. Alain Carpentier (the mitral valve wizard) of the Pierre & Marie Curie University in Paris, claims to have developed the most advanced artificial human heart. Using some of the technology transferred from the aerospace industry, like high precision valves and switches, the device will now have to prove itself in clinical trials.
The preliminary animal trials and lab tests performed with the CARMAT artificial heart have generated interest from the medical community in France and worldwide, as well as from the health authorities. The dynamism and exceptional skills of the team of physicians and engineers that has formed around Professor Carpentier and his colleagues at the Georges Pompidou Hospital in Paris convinced first TRUFFLE CAPITAL and then OSEO to actively fund the CARMAT project. At present, CARMAT’s prototype artificial heart has been patented and is undergoing preclinical testing. It meets the human body’s biocompatibility criteria. It is functionally similar to the human heart in both anatomic and functional terms – notably via automatic regulation of heart rate and blood flow according to the patient’s physiological needs. Following approval by the French Agency for Healthcare Product Safety (AFSSAPS), CARMAT’s prototype will be evaluated first in life-threatened patients with no other available treatment options and then (depending on the results of the initial clinical trials) in patients with a better prognosis.
Here’s video of the heart and an interview with Dr. Carpentier from The Telegraph:
More from The Telegraph…
Press release: LAUNCH AND FUNDING OF CARMAT SAS, AN INNOVATIVE START-UP DEVELOPING AN ARTIFICIAL HEART…
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