MOVING ACTUATOR TYPE TOTAL ARTIFICIAL-HEART WITH REVERSE POSITION OF THE AORTIC AND PULMONARY CONDUITS

Adequate intrathoracic anatomical compatibility is one of the most imp ortant considerations in designing a fully implantable total artificia l heart (TAH). We have recently developed an innovative concept of rev erse positioning of the aortic and pulmonary conduits to facilitate an atomical compatibility of the moving actuator type TAH. The pulmonary conduit of this TAH is designed to be located posterior to the aortic conduit, which results in a substantial reduction in the anteroposteri or diameter of this heart, as well as the virtual elimination of the c ompression of the low pressure pulmonary conduit. In ovine orthotopic implantation experiments with this model of the TAH, we consecutively achieved 3 day survival in 1 sheep and 2 day survival in another. To t he best of our knowledge, these were the first significant short-term survival cases in the orthotopic implantation of electric TAHs in shee p.