Alternative Therapies

A man in Montreal has become the first ever living Canadian without a heartbeat. He was given a new mechanical heart last month that pumps blood continuously using a turbine suspended in a magnetic field.

The device uses a turbine that pumps blood from the left ventricle to the aorta. And from there, the blood is distributed to the whole body by the continuous flow pump which is powered by batteries located in pouches on the man’s body. But the continuous flow pump does not produce any pulsation.

The medical breakthrough was announced by Dr. Renzo Cecere and Dr. Nadia Giannetti at a news conference at McGill University Health Centre.

The device is predicted to work for 10 years. Although it is still in the trial stages, the doctors believe that the technology will change the way heart patients are treated, providing an alternative to heart transplant surgery.

Doctors said that before undergoing the surgery, the patient was very sick, had lost more than 20 pounds, and had very low blood pressure. But he has made significant improvement since the surgery.