System overview of the fully implantable destination therapy—ReinHeart-total artificial heart

Abstract

In vitro and in vivo testing showed a safe and effective function of the ReinHeart-TAH system. This has the potential to become an alternative to transplantation. However, before a first-in-man implant, chronic animal trials still have to be completed.

The future of mechanical circulatory support for advanced heart failure

“…The system consists of a passive filling pump driven by two artificial ventricles, an implantable control unit, and a compliance chamber [22] (Fig. 3d).…”

“…The preliminary animal data suggests high durability with significantly reduced areas of blood pooling, whereby within three cycles over 99% of the blood filling the ventricles was washed out, thus reducing thrombosis risk to the patient. The passively filled pump is highly preload sensitive, allowing the system to adapt to the patient's CO needs, generating up to 60 ml of stroke volume per cycle [22].…”

“…All components are internalized (pump, controller with batteries, internal TET coil, and compliance chamber); the pump has the potential to provide 5 years or more of support. The required mean power is less than 20 W and is transmitted transcutaneously [22]. The purpose of the implantable controller is to power and control the pump unit and compliance chamber, in addition to providing a battery back up in case of a TET system failure, which powers all implantable components.…”

“…The purpose of the implantable controller is to power and control the pump unit and compliance chamber, in addition to providing a battery back up in case of a TET system failure, which powers all implantable components. With optimal coupling between the coils, power losses are low and local heating is minimized; the TET system can support the device up to a distance and misalignment of 30 mm [22]. Free range resonant electrical delivery wireless power systems (FREE-D WiTricity's) are a proprietary wireless resonant energy transfer technology that utilizes magnetically coupled resonators to transfer power over a distance of 2-3 m. The transfer of energy is less restricted by misalignment and interferences from surrounding objects [29].…”

Novel Optical Position Sensing for Miniaturized Applications and Validation in a Total Artificial Heart

“…A different, linear, electromagnetic direct-drive concept is realized in the ReinHeart TAH, which is being developed at the Institute for Applied Medical Engineering in Aachen, Germany [8]. The ReinHeart is a fully implantable artificial heart system designed with minimal wear components to ensure high durability.…”