Queensland University of Technology

For the 50,000 Australians who die each year of cardiovascular disease, it's heartening to know that a Queensland University of Technology researcher is working to develop the world's first artificial double heart pump.

Nick Gaddum, from QUT's Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, said heart failure, stroke and vascular disease killed more Australians than any other disease group.

"To reduce the rate of heart disease, treatment now looks beyond medical therapy to medical devices, which aim to assist or totally replicate the heart's function," he said.

Mr Gaddum's research, which is a joint venture with The Prince Charles Hospital, involves developing an artificial heart pump that is able to provide a dual pumping system to work for both sides of the heart.

"I am developing a novel bi-ventricular assistance device, known as a BiVAD, to support both the left and right ventricles simultaneously," he said.

"At the moment current implantable heart pumps focus heavily on supporting the left ventricle, as this side provides the highest workload, pumping blood to the whole body.

"But studies have found a need for right heart support in a significant number of patients to help maintain blood flow through the lungs after the left heart alone has suffered from heart attack."

Mr Gaddum said the left ventricle was the largest and most muscular chamber of the heart.

"When a heart attack occurs it generally results in the failure of the left ventricle," he said.

"When the left ventricle fails one treatment is to implant a pump inside the patient to assist in pumping blood around the body.

"What can happen, however, is that this can cause the right ventricle to fail because it is overworked."

According to Mr Gaddum, what makes the heart pump unique is the hydraulic design of the left and right heart supporting pumps.

He said the two pumps were being designed to work together to provide interdependent function, much like the ventricles of a healthy heart do as they contract against each other when they pump.

"The left heart supporting pump adjusts its output depending on the operation of the right heart supporting pump and visa versa. This allows them to work together."

As part of his research, Mr Gaddum has built a series of pumps which are currently being tested through a mock-up of the circulatory system.

"This is a hydraulic mock-up of the body that replicates the workings of the heart, systemic and pulmonary circulations.

"You can simulate heart failure and various other disease conditions in the mock circulation loop.

"The artificial heart pump can then be plumbed in to the loop to assess its capability as a cardiac support device."

Mr Gaddum said there were currently no BiVADs commercially available as a single unit.

"I hope to have my BiVAD design ready for blood testing by September next year," he said.

Assisting Mr Gaddum's research at QUT are academics Professor Mark Pearcy, Assoc Prof Andy Tan and a QUT graduate Dr Daniel Timms. Valuable contributions have also been made by Dr Keith McNeil, Dr Andrew Galbraith and Dr John Dunning from The Prince Charles Hospital.

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Editor's Note: Original news release can be found here.