St Vincents Private Hospitals

World first as St Vincent's clinicians implant revolutionary new heart device

St Vincent’s Sydney has carried out the world’s ‘first-in-human’ implant of a new generation of life-saving heart technology: a French-invented device which uses a revolutionary approach to help pump blood around the body and prevent heart failure until a donor heart for long-term transplant can be found.

The CorWave Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD) device uses unique, undulating ‘membrane technology' – inspired by the swimming motion of aquatic animals – to restore blood flow and mimic the natural beating and pulse of a healthy heart.

The undulating membrane technology, under development since 2012, aims to preserve the physiological balance of the cardiovascular system, unlike currently-used rotary LVAD pumps that deliver a continuous and fixed flow rate.

The CorWave device was implanted on 28 May in a procedure led by St Vincent’s cardiothoracic and transplant surgeon, Dr Paul Jansz.

After several weeks in the ICU, followed by observation in the ward by St Vincent’s clinicians, led by Professor Chris Hayward, patient Michael Smith – a 67-year-old grandfather and former food processing worker from Leeton in southern NSW – is about to return home and will live with the device until a donor heart is identified for transplant.

The implant is the first of around 20 that will take place over three years as part of a clinical research study to test the effectiveness of the CorWave LVAD with six hospitals participating. Four of the hospitals are in Europe, with St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney and The Alfred in Melbourne the only non-European partners.

Michael said he couldn’t thank the St Vincent’s team more highly. “Since the operation, I feel good. There's no tiredness. I don’t feel run down or anything. I feel really good, I feel like I'm 21 again