China's first man-made heart
China's first man-made heart
10:49, November 26, 2009 
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Heart disease patients in China may expect a longer life after the first domestically made artificial heart is to be introduced next year, local media in Guangzhou reported.
The artificial heart, including a blood pump and battery, will be available to the public at the price of 600,000 yuan ($87,870) each, according to Xiang Tiangong, director of an artificial heart laboratory in Zhongshan, Guangdong Province.
The lab has invested 88 million yuan ($12.9 million) on the project thus far, Guangzhou Daily reported Wednesday.
A blood pump with enough pressure to squirt a water column 3 meters high has already been produced in Zhongshan.
The pump is the critical device in an artificial heart, replacing natural blood circulation after it is inserted into the human body.
The heart pump has worked successfully in clinical trials and will be authorized for sale pending official approval, Xiang said. Two hundred pumps are expected to be produced monthly and will be sold to artificial heart-makers for 300,000 yuan ($43,935) apiece.
The laboratory could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
"An artificial heart device is very sophisticated because the design must consider factors such as placement of the pump battery and rejection of the device by the human body's immune system," Tang Lichuan, a cardiovascular disease specialist in Beijing told the Global Times Wednesday.
"The artificial heart is designed for patients who suffered from heart failures rather than heart patients with coronary artery disease," noted Tang.
The report said that heart problems create other disease complications, which make heart failure the leading cause of death. If an artificial heart can maintain proper blood pressure, other diseases might be cured.
Xiang said famous patients like popular CCTV news anchor Luo Jing would still be alive today if the artificial heart had been developed earlier.
Luo, a household name in TV newscasting for 26 years, died of heart failure June after he was diagnosed with cancer.
Although the heart pump has passed its clinical trials, the complete heart device is still undergoing lab tests to guarantee that it is safe for human transplant.
Xiang said the made-in-China artificial heart will be much cheaper than foreign-made ones, which typically cost about 1 million yuan ($146,450) apiece.
Some heart patients questioned the social justice of a life-saving device that will give only the rich a new lease on life.
"I doubt how many ordinary people could afford it," Chen Duo, a 70-year-old retiree from Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province, told the Global Times. Chen has had heart trouble since 2006 and was twice hospitalized for treatment.
Lee Wing-kai, chairman of Hong Kong Care for Your Heart, who has suffered from heart disease since 2004, agreed.
"It is for the rich," said Lee, who questioned whether the price is a one-time payment or just a down payment on the continuing cost of heart transplants.
Typically, patients must pay the monthly cost of expensive medications to prevent the body's immune system from rejecting artificial hearts and organ transplants.
The Ministry of Health reported over a half-million sudden deaths from heart failures in China each year, the highest heart attack death rate in the world, the Xinhua News Agency reported earlier this month.
Tang said the effectiveness of man-made hearts can be seen in histories of terminal heart disease patients surviving an additional 7 to 8 years with the aid of external heart pumps.
Source: Global Times
The artificial heart, including a blood pump and battery, will be available to the public at the price of 600,000 yuan ($87,870) each, according to Xiang Tiangong, director of an artificial heart laboratory in Zhongshan, Guangdong Province.
The lab has invested 88 million yuan ($12.9 million) on the project thus far, Guangzhou Daily reported Wednesday.
A blood pump with enough pressure to squirt a water column 3 meters high has already been produced in Zhongshan.
The pump is the critical device in an artificial heart, replacing natural blood circulation after it is inserted into the human body.
The heart pump has worked successfully in clinical trials and will be authorized for sale pending official approval, Xiang said. Two hundred pumps are expected to be produced monthly and will be sold to artificial heart-makers for 300,000 yuan ($43,935) apiece.
The laboratory could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
"An artificial heart device is very sophisticated because the design must consider factors such as placement of the pump battery and rejection of the device by the human body's immune system," Tang Lichuan, a cardiovascular disease specialist in Beijing told the Global Times Wednesday.
"The artificial heart is designed for patients who suffered from heart failures rather than heart patients with coronary artery disease," noted Tang.
The report said that heart problems create other disease complications, which make heart failure the leading cause of death. If an artificial heart can maintain proper blood pressure, other diseases might be cured.
Xiang said famous patients like popular CCTV news anchor Luo Jing would still be alive today if the artificial heart had been developed earlier.
Luo, a household name in TV newscasting for 26 years, died of heart failure June after he was diagnosed with cancer.
Although the heart pump has passed its clinical trials, the complete heart device is still undergoing lab tests to guarantee that it is safe for human transplant.
Xiang said the made-in-China artificial heart will be much cheaper than foreign-made ones, which typically cost about 1 million yuan ($146,450) apiece.
Some heart patients questioned the social justice of a life-saving device that will give only the rich a new lease on life.
"I doubt how many ordinary people could afford it," Chen Duo, a 70-year-old retiree from Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province, told the Global Times. Chen has had heart trouble since 2006 and was twice hospitalized for treatment.
Lee Wing-kai, chairman of Hong Kong Care for Your Heart, who has suffered from heart disease since 2004, agreed.
"It is for the rich," said Lee, who questioned whether the price is a one-time payment or just a down payment on the continuing cost of heart transplants.
Typically, patients must pay the monthly cost of expensive medications to prevent the body's immune system from rejecting artificial hearts and organ transplants.
The Ministry of Health reported over a half-million sudden deaths from heart failures in China each year, the highest heart attack death rate in the world, the Xinhua News Agency reported earlier this month.
Tang said the effectiveness of man-made hearts can be seen in histories of terminal heart disease patients surviving an additional 7 to 8 years with the aid of external heart pumps.
Source: Global Times
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