Titanium Maglev Heart Implanted Successfully in a Patient for First Time May Help Others Waiting for a Transplant

[Michie]

In a highly-anticipated world-first, the Texas Heart Institute has successfully implanted an artificial titanium heart that uses the same technology as bullet trains to pump blood mechanically throughout the body.

Called the Total Artificial Heart (TAH), the feat is seen as a major step in keeping people alive for longer and longer periods while they wait for heart transplants.

Texas Heart partnered with the medical tech company BiVACOR to create the TAH. It’s a titanium-constructed biventricular rotary blood pump with a single moving part that utilizes a magnetically levitated rotor that pumps the blood and replaces both ventricles of a failing heart.

Continued below.

Titanium Maglev Heart Implanted Successfully in a Patient for First Time May Help Others Waiting for a Transplant

The benefit of using magnetic levitation is that none of the parts ever scrape or slide against each other, increasing the lifespan of the device

www.goodnewsnetwork.org

 

[AlexB23]

In a highly-anticipated world-first, the Texas Heart Institute has successfully implanted an artificial titanium heart that uses the same technology as bullet trains to pump blood mechanically throughout the body.

Called the Total Artificial Heart (TAH), the feat is seen as a major step in keeping people alive for longer and longer periods while they wait for heart transplants.

Texas Heart partnered with the medical tech company BiVACOR to create the TAH. It’s a titanium-constructed biventricular rotary blood pump with a single moving part that utilizes a magnetically levitated rotor that pumps the blood and replaces both ventricles of a failing heart.

Continued below.

Titanium Maglev Heart Implanted Successfully in a Patient for First Time May Help Others Waiting for a Transplant

The benefit of using magnetic levitation is that none of the parts ever scrape or slide against each other, increasing the lifespan of the device

www.goodnewsnetwork.org

Woo, maglev technology is fascinating. I was hoping we would have Maglev cars in 20 years, but hey, now we have maglev hearts. Seems that some people might have hearts of steel, of profound bravery. Oh wait, this new heart is made of titanium, even stronger than steel.

 

[timewerx]

Not a big fan of titanium for implants.

I have one from complex joint fracture. Later, I did some reading up about titanium implants because I'm quite physically active and I wish to know anything I needed to be cautious about.

What I found out is that titanium is not entirely corrosion-resistant. It can corrode from chemical compounds present in an inflammation environment.

An oxide layer is what makes titanium incredibly resistant from corrosion but "free radicals" called "reactive oxygen species" produced by the body during inflammation of any cause and also during and after an intense exercise session, can remove the protective oxide layer from titanium.

Without titanium's protective oxide layer and presence of acidic compounds in blood from inflammation or exercise, can cause titanium to corrode.

There's plenty of hard evidence of titanium implants failing due to corrosion and not from mechanical wear.

I'm just hoping that in my case, bone tissue will replace parts of the titanium implant that had corroded but still doesn't solve one more issue-remaining - titanium poisoning. Titanium compounds in the blood from titanium implants isn't always expelled and can accumulate in the liver and kidneys.

Inflammation from the mere presence of the implant can accelerate corrosion even further.

 

[Michie]

Not a big fan of titanium for implants.

I have one from complex joint fracture. Later, I did some reading up about titanium implants because I'm quite physically active and I wish to know anything I needed to be cautious about.

What I found out is that titanium is not entirely corrosion-resistant. It can corrode from chemical compounds present in an inflammation environment.

An oxide layer is what makes titanium incredibly resistant from corrosion but "free radicals" called "reactive oxygen species" produced by the body during inflammation of any cause and also during and after an intense exercise session, can remove the protective oxide layer from titanium.

Without titanium's protective oxide layer and presence of acidic compounds in blood from inflammation or exercise, can cause titanium to corrode.

There's plenty of hard evidence of titanium implants failing due to corrosion and not from mechanical wear.

I'm just hoping that in my case, bone tissue will replace parts of the titanium implant that had corroded but still doesn't solve one more issue-remaining - titanium poisoning. Titanium compounds in the blood from titanium implants isn't always expelled and can accumulate in the liver and kidneys.

Inflammation from the mere presence of the implant can accelerate corrosion even further.

Do you have a link to that info you just shared we can look at??

 

[timewerx]

Do you have a link to that info you just shared we can look at??

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1742706121006590

Kind of a long read. But basically tells the mere presence of the implant triggers inflammation reaction in the body releasing compounds like the highly aggressive hydrogen peroxide that can remove the protective oxide layer from titanium and the rest follows.

 

[Michie]

I do not think the article applies as this is a temporary solution to prolong life when waiting for a heart transplant. I do appreciate the info though. Thanks!

 

[timewerx]

I do not think the article applies as this is a temporary solution to prolong life when waiting for a heart transplant. I do appreciate the info though. Thanks!

It gives one explanation why the tech can't be used as permanent replacement for a biological heart.

Sad news for our cyborg-wannabes.

The risk remains for low levels of titanium toxicity though even for temporary use because of high volume of blood that goes through the titanium heart.

 

[Michie]

It gives one explanation why the tech can't be used as permanent replacement for a biological heart.

Sad news for our cyborg-wannabes.

The risk remains for low levels of titanium toxicity though even for temporary use because of high volume of blood that goes through the titanium heart.

Well I’m sure being in that position, many patients are willing to chance it.