Keeping Hearts Pumping

Abstract

A collaboration between NASA, Dr. Michael DeBakey, Dr. George Noon, and MicroMed Technology, Inc., resulted in a life-saving heart pump for patients awaiting heart transplants. The MicroMed DeBakey VAD functions as a "bridge to heart transplant" by pumping blood throughout the body to keep critically ill patients alive until a donor heart is available. Weighing less than 4 ounces and measuring 1 inch by 3 inches, the pump is approximately one-tenth the size of other currently marketed pulsatile VADs. This makes it less invasive and ideal for smaller adults and children. Because of the pump's small size, less than 5 percent of the patients implanted developed device-related infections. It can operate up to 8 hours on batteries, giving patients the mobility to do normal, everyday activities.The MicroMed DeBakey VAD is a registered trademark of MicroMed Technology, Inc.