Although other similar inventions preceded it from the late 1940s, the first artificial heart to be successfully implanted in a human was the Jarvik-7 in 1982, designed by a team including Willem Johan Kolff, William DeVries and Robert Jarvik.

It is also distinct from a cardiopulmonary bypass machine, which is an external device used to provide the functions of both the heart and lungs, used only for a few hours at a time, most commonly during cardiac surgery.

Although the heart is conceptually a pump, it embodies subtleties that defy straightforward emulation with synthetic materials and power supplies.

[citation needed] Artificial hearts have historically had issues from both a biomedical standpoint, regarding clotting and foreign object rejection, as well as longevity and practicality, regarding the lifespan of the device as well as the equipment required to run it.

In 1958, Domingo Liotta initiated the studies of TAH (Total Artificial Heart) replacement at Lyon, France, and in 1959–60 at the National University of Córdoba, Argentina.

He presented his work at the meeting of the American Society for Artificial Internal Organs held in Atlantic City in March 1961.

[8][9] Paul Winchell designed a model of artificial heart with the assistance of Henry Heimlich (the inventor of the Heimlich maneuver) and submitted a patent for a mechanically driven artificial heart implementing a cam driven roller mechanism to compress flexible bags containing blood, on 6 February 1961.

[16] In February 1966, Adrian Kantrowitz rose to international prominence when he performed the world's first permanent implantation of a partial mechanical heart (left ventricular assist device) at Maimonides Medical Center.

[18] Jarvik also combined several modifications: an ovoid shape to fit inside the human chest, a more blood-compatible polyurethane developed by biomedical engineer Donald Lyman, and a fabrication method by Kwan-Gett that made the inside of the ventricles smooth and seamless to reduce dangerous stroke-causing blood clots.

[20] The original prototype of Liotta-Cooley artificial heart used in this historic operation is prominently displayed in the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History "Treasures of American History" exhibit in Washington, D.C.[21] The first clinical use of an artificial heart designed for permanent implantation rather than a bridge to transplant occurred in 1982 at the University of Utah.

Clark lived for 112 days tethered to the UtahDrive pneumatic drive console, a device weighing some 400 pounds (180 kg).

Moreover, two sizable catheters had to cross the body wall to carry the pneumatic pulses to the implanted heart, greatly increasing the risk of infection.

On 19 July 1963, E. Stanley Crawford and Domingo Liotta implanted the first clinical Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD) at The Methodist Hospital in Houston, Texas, in a patient who had a cardiac arrest after surgery.

The prototype used embedded electronic sensors and was made from chemically treated animal tissues, called "biomaterials", or a "pseudo-skin" of biosynthetic, microporous materials.

The blood-facing side of the membrane is made of tissue obtained from a sac that surrounds a cow's heart, to make the device more biocompatible.

Cardiac information is sent to an internal control system that can adjust the flow rate in response to increased demand, such as when a patient is exercising.

[46] The Carmat Aeson is aimed to be used in cases of terminal heart failure, instead of being used as a bridge device while the patient awaits a transplant.

[48] In 2016, trials for the Carmat "fully artificial heart" were banned by the National Agency for Security and Medicine in Europe after short survival rates were confirmed.

[52] The U.S. Army artificial heart pump was a compact, air-powered unit developed by Kenneth Woodward at Harry Diamond Laboratories in the early to mid-1960s.

[53] The pump operated without any moving parts under the principle of fluid amplification – providing a pulsating air pressure source resembling a heartbeat.

[citation needed] In June 1996, a 46-year-old man received a total artificial heart implantation done by Jeng Wei at Cheng-Hsin General Hospital[58] in Taiwan.

[61] The AbioCor is made of titanium and plastic with a weight of 0.9 kg (two pounds), and its internal battery can be recharged with a transduction device that sends power through the skin.

[64] By combining its valved ventricles with the control technology and roller screw developed at Penn State, AbioMed designed a smaller, more stable heart, the AbioCor II.

This pump, which should be implantable in most men and 50% of women with a life span of up to five years,[64] had animal trials in 2005, and the company hoped to get FDA approval for human use in 2008.

Lewis survived for another 5 weeks after the operation; he eventually died from liver and kidney failure due to his amyloidosis, after which his family asked that his artificial heart be unplugged.

[citation needed] Founded in 2008, the BiVACOR company has been developing a total artificial heart based on a rotary centrifugal pump.

[1] The first Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD) system was created by Domingo Liotta at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston in 1962.

In a young person, this device could delay the need for a transplant by 10–15 years, or even allow the heart to recover, in which case the VAD can be removed.

Another major advantage of a VAD is that the patient keeps the natural heart, which may still function for temporary back-up support if the mechanical pump were to stop.

[citation needed] In August 2006, an artificial heart was implanted into a 15-year-old girl at the Stollery Children's Hospital in Edmonton, Alberta.