The New York Times reported last week that Dr. Robert K. Jarvik, who led the development of the first artificial heart, passed away.
He died last Monday at his home in Manhattan at the age of 79, according to the report. His wife, Marilyn vos Savant, told The New York Times that he died of complications from Parkinson’s disease.
Jarvik was the principal designer of the first artificial permanent heart implanted in a human. In 1982, a surgical team led by Dr. William C. DeVries implanted the Jarvik-7 model of the artificial heart in a 61-year-old man after the FDA gave the University of Utah the go-ahead.
Five patients received the heart as a permanent replacement before hundreds of patients received it as a temporary implant while awaiting a donor heart, according to the report. The FDA withdrew the implant’s approval in 1990, citing issues with quality control, the report notes.
However, Jarvik’s efforts live on today in the total artificial heart market, with companies like BiVacor and SynCardia advancing their own technologies. BiVacor just last week received FDA breakthrough device designation for its Total Artificial Heart (TAH) system as a bridge to transplant. SynCardia, the only company with a commercially available total artificial heart, last fall secured a patent to expand the coverage of its next-generation Emperor implantable artificial heart technology, a fully implantable version that does not require external drivers.
Top SynCardia officials recently appeared on our DeviceTalks Weekly podcast. And SynCardia CEO Patrick Schnegelsberg will speak at DeviceTalks Minnesota, June 11 at the University of Minnesota’s McNamara Alumni Center. (Register here.)
