SynCardia’s first-generation TAH is the first system of its kind approved by the FDA and Health Canada. TAH is indicated as a bridge to transplant, replacing both ventricles and all four native heart valves to restore circulation and hemodynamic ability while patients await donor organ availability.
The company announced that a 29-year-old patient successfully received a donor heart transplant after living for more than four years supported entirely by the SynCardia TAH. This patient received their TAH implant on Sept. 2, 2021, after developing severe biventricular heart failure. The device replaced the pumping function of both sides of the heart, maintaining circulation while the patient a waited a donor organ.
After 1,636 days of continuous artificial heart support, the patient underwent a successful heart transplant. on Feb. 24, 2026.
“The challenge in advanced heart failure is often the time required to find a suitable donor organ,” said Patrick NJ Schnegelsberg, CEO of Picard Medical. “This case demonstrates how the SynCardia Total Artificial Heart can sustain critically ill patients for extended periods, allowing them to live at home while awaiting heart transplantation.”
Picard reports more than 2,100 SynCardia TAH implants worldwide. The longest documented patient support exceeded eight years on the device.
With this milestone for the TAH system, Picard also continues advancing a next-generation version, called Emperor. The company designed the Emperor as a fully implantable, driverless version of the SynCardia TAH. It provides pulsatile flow without requiring a pneumatic driver. Emperor has multiple approved patents backing it, including one garnered as recently as September.
SynCardia reported the first in vivo implantations of the fully implantable Emperor system in November 2025.
