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Artificial heart now in India

TNN, Mumbai
A tiny mechanised device weighing 400 grams may soon give a new lease of life to more than 4 million people in the country who
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die of heart failure every year. A Mumbai hospital has brought in the technology to implant an artificial heart that takes over the functioning of the original heart and promises to double the patient's life expectancy.
Bandra's Asian Heart Institute recently completed training its team of doctors to implant the device in patients of heart failure. End-stage heart disease, wherein the heart loses its ability to pump oxygenated blood into the body, is currently almost means a death sentence for the patient. The lifesaver that runs on rechargeable batteries, however, will come at varying costs. At die AHI, it will cost a whopping Rs 1 crore.
Experts say with incidence of heart failure increasing by 2 million annually and heart transplants being a distant dream in the country, this technology could be the way forward. Vice-chairman and managing director of AHI, Dr Ramakant Panda said, "Less than 1 percent of heart failure patients have any chance of getting an organ for transplant. This device, much smaller than the original heart, could be our solution to heart failure,” he said. He explained that the
artificial heart not only gives the patient a shot at life, it also allows the natural heart to recover. In 10-15 percent of patients, the original heart recovers and the device is then removed.
Panda explained that the artificial heart will help patients who are ideal candidates for a heart transplant but need assistance to stay alive till they get a donor. "But for patients who do not even have the option to undergo cardiac transplantation, this technology is probably the only answer tostayalive/'hesaid.
Globally over 10,000 people are believed to beliving with the device that is considered the most sophisticated to assist a failing heart. Senior consultant cardiovascular surgeon Dr Prashant Vaijyanath, who is part of the team that will be carrying out the artificial heart transplants in AHI, said, "The device restores normal blood flow throughout the body, making it possible for the patient to breathe easily. All the fatigue associated with the condition goes away." He said the logic was simple. "All organs start receiving more blood than they did before. Patients can resume their normal activities,
including running and cycling, simply because they feel more energetic," he added. However, patients will not be able to swim.hecautioned.
AHI would be the first facility in western India to offer the transplant. Recently, Bangalore's Narayan Hrudalaya too got the green signal to start the programme. Earlier in 2008, it had performed artificial heart transplants in four patients. The programme however, had to be aborted due to the global meltdown in2009 that led to the closure of the company making the device. Now, technology has changed drastically. The device used for transplants in2008is all but obsolete, replaced by newer ones, which are sleeker and better.