Safe with artificial heart….For the first time in the world, facility for patients in the form of pressurized air machine

A patient in Phoenix, Arizona, America by name Charles Okake is living with completely aritificially made heart. Earlier, patients need to be restricted to hospitals because of arrangement of artificial heart. But now, one can be at home doing their daily routines even by having artificial heart. Till anyone donates heart, he can live comfortably. If there is any damage in the right or left part of the heart, it is not possible to pump the blood required by the body. In this condition, surgery becomes inevitable. Hence artificial heart is installed when heart donors are not available.

Food and Drug Administration, FDA, located in America has given permission to arrange artificial heart in humans for the first time in 2004. But the patient has to be restricted to the hospital till any donor comes forward. There is no wonder if it gets years together also. But the artificial heart arranged to Okake is different. It is totally artificial and created by Syncardia systems of Arizona, America. It has a thin diaphragm. This diaphragm will be present in the part of the heart that is like reversed funnel. By surgery, doctors arrange these kinds of four parts in to the body of the patient. Then the four parts of the heart are connected to the circulatory system of the body.

For this artificial heart to function, air pressure is necessary. So, a pressurizing machine of 6kgs weight is arranged on the back pack of the patient. It is called ‘freedom driver’. It should be present all the time with the patient. Earlier, an instrument called bigblue of weight 190kgs was used in the place of freedom driver. Okake also has spent 20 months in the hospital with bigblue. Now, he has reached home with the help of freedom driver. Presently Syncardia has got permission to test freedom driver on another 60 patients. Of them 30 patients have to spend in hospitals and remaining 30 can be sent to their houses. Special arrangements are made in Syncardia heart to prevent the clotting of blood in the heart. But, there are chances for infection since air pipes will be coming out of the patient body.