IMAGE 1: Heart Mate II
in European markets could occur as soon as late 2015.
The MVAD represents the next generation HeartWare device. The M stands for miniature and, indeed,
this continuous axial flow pump is about one third
the size of the second-generation HVAD (IMAGE 2). For
comparison, the first-generation Thoratec VAD was
pneumatic (air-driven) and weighed 570 grams. The
HeartMate III LVAD under study is magnetic and
weighs in at 200 grams while the HeartWare MVAD
is hydrodynamic and is just 92 grams.
In collaboration with Dualis Medtech GmbH, a
company spun out of the German Centre for Aeronautics and Aerospace research organization, HeartWare is also developing fully implantable electronics
systems based on transcutaneous energy transfer
(TET) technolo