TOTAL ARTIFICIAL HEART. REVIEW

Highlights

• Implantation of an artificial heart serves as a temporary solution for patients with end-stage heart failure.
• The literature review presents the history of the completely artificial heart, its different models, and clinical applications.

Abstract

Cardiovascular disease is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Many patients with end-stage heart failure die due to a shortage of donor hearts. A total artificial heart (TAH) is an implantable device that replaces the heart. To date, it has been successfully implanted in more than 2,000 patients as a bridge to heart transplantation. However, after several decades of research, a TAH suitable for targeted therapy has yet to be developed. High complication rates, bulky devices, poor durability, poor biocompatibility and poor quality of life for patients are some of the major drawbacks of existing TAH devices that need to be addressed before they can be used as targeted therapy. Rapidly emerging innovations in battery technology, wireless energy transfer, biocompatible materials, and soft robotics offer promising opportunities for TAH development and may help address the shortcomings of existing devices ^[1]. This review describes the major milestones in the history of TAH design and development. The differences in the mechanisms of operation of these devices are described, and current challenges and requirements for the next generation of TAHs are discussed. Thus, despite significant progress, modern TAHs remain predominantly a temporary solution. The key challenges for transitioning to long-term targeted therapy are improving device durability, addressing the need for pulsatile flow, and miniaturizing the systems for a broad patient population.

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