Science and Technology Daily reporter Chen Xi
On July 13, 2022, the implantable left ventricular assist system HeartCon ("Rocket Heart") received National Medical Products Administration approval and was officially launched on the market. This is my country's first implantable magnetic fluid levitation left ventricular assist system using magnetic fluid levitation technology with completely independent intellectual property rights. Its key technical indicators have reached the same level as the international level. The launch of the purely domestically produced "artificial heart" will benefit the majority of patients with advanced heart failure.
Implantable left ventricular assist system HeartCon ("Rocket Heart"). Photo courtesy of Taixin Hospital
Suffocating breath, edema, difficulty breathing at night, and being unable to lie down... Patients with advanced heart failure struggle on the edge of death every day.
It is understood that heart failure is the end-stage manifestation of many types of cardiovascular diseases. Currently, there are about 80 million heart failure patients in the world, and there should be at least 16 million heart failure patients in my country.
For end-stage heart failure, traditional treatment has poor outcomes and high mid- and long-term mortality. Heart transplant Although heart transplantation is a better therapy, due to the severe shortage of heart donors, the number of heart transplants in China is only a few hundred cases per year. It is far from meeting the needs of patients, and a large number of end-stage heart failure patients are waiting in vain. The treatment and care of end-stage heart failure consumes a lot of resources and is a global social medical and health problem.
Ventricular assist devices are the most effective means of treating heart failure outside of heart transplantation and have been used in developed countries in Europe and the United States. Simply put, it is an artificial blood pump, connected in parallel with the heart, responsible for the function of ventricular ejection, pumping blood into the arterial system, and partially or completely replacing the work of the heart. Therefore, it is often called "artificial blood pump". heart". "Artificial heart" is one of the most complex and sophisticated medical devices. Due to its extremely high manufacturing precision and technical difficulty, it is known as the "jewel in the crown of medical devices".
editor: Zhang Qiqi
review: Zhu Li
