The Advantages of the Artificial Heart

According to the American Heart Association, one in three Americans suffer from some type of cardiovascular disease. Annually, nearly 6 million Americans die from heart failure. For decades, scientists have been researching ways to build an artificial heart. In the 1950s, a dog was implanted with an artificial heart, and the first artificial heart was implanted in a human in 1969. An artificial heart is a mechanical device that uses electronic sensors to regulate the heart rate and flow of blood. In the Aug. 26, 2004, issue of the "New England Journal of Medicine," a published study reported that the one-year survival rate among more than 80 patients who were given an artificial heart was 70 percent. Also in the Sept. 2009 issue of "Phoenix Magazine," an Arizona man was reported having lived 159 days with an artificial heart while awaiting a heart transplant.

Keeps Alive While Waiting Transplant

• The window for a heart transplant is narrow and an artificial heart provides crucial time while a heart donor is located. Donated hearts need to be implanted in four hours or less once removed from a donor, according to the Internet Encyclopedia of Science. In 2008, more than 2,600 American heart patients were on the transplant waiting list.

Improve Quality of Life

• Time is a precious commodity. If your cardiovascular ailment is so severe that you are diagnosed with less than 30 days to live and are not a candidate for a heart transplant, an artificial heart can increase your life expectancy beyond the 30 projected days you have left.

No Wear and Tear

• No matter the age of a heart donor, the donated heart has been previously used. In the Aug. 26, 2004, issue of the "New England Journal of Medicine," a published study reported that an artificial heart sheds the need for open heart surgery to fix or replace faulty native heart valves as well as the need for a pacemaker or defibrillator because the mechanical device is generated by carefully calculated air pulses.