The "heart" created by rocket technology ignites new hope for patients with advanced heart failure

　　Our reporter Chen Xi

　　This HeartCon ventricular assist device, known as the "Rocket Heart", has domestic original independent independent intellectual property rights. It makes full use of many technologies manufactured by my country's rockets and is the crystallization of the close integration of medical and engineering.

　　Can you think of it?

An inconspicuous device with a diameter of only 5 cm and a weight of only 180 grams can replace the heart and regain a new life for patients with end-stage heart failure.

This HeartCon ventricular assist device, known as the "Rocket Heart", has domestic original independent independent intellectual property rights. It makes full use of many technologies manufactured by my country's rockets and is the crystallization of the close integration of medical and engineering.

　　On September 15th, this purely domestic artificial heart was successfully implanted in the body of 63-year-old end-stage heart failure patient Mr. Ma in TEDA International Cardiovascular Hospital (hereinafter referred to as Taixin Hospital), marking the official entry of the purely domestic artificial heart Clinical Trials.

　　Can solve the problem of lack of heart donors

　　Professor Liu Xiaocheng, the chief researcher of the "Rocket Heart" clinical trial and the dean of Taixin Hospital, said that the current incidence of heart failure is increasing rapidly, and it is the end-stage manifestation of many types of cardiovascular diseases.

According to statistics, there are about 80 million heart failure patients in the world, and a conservative estimate of 16 million heart failure patients in my country.

　　Traditional treatments for end-stage heart failure have poor outcomes (outcome refers to the transformation and development of the disease) and high mortality.

Like Mr. Ma, who participated in the treatment of the "Rocket Heart" clinical trial project, his heart failure lasted for 10 years.

In order to improve heart function and prevent malignant arrhythmia, he implanted a three-chamber pacemaker with automatic defibrillation in 2018, but the heart failure continued to recur and was eventually diagnosed as dilated cardiomyopathy, end-stage heart failure, Arrhythmia, hypertension, renal insufficiency, aortic atherosclerosis, etc., are in critical condition.

　　For these patients, traditional heart transplantation is a better treatment, but Liu Xiaocheng said that there is a serious shortage of suitable heart donors. There are only a few hundred heart transplants in China each year, which is far from meeting the needs of patients. A large number of patients are waiting. death.

　　Ventricular assist devices are an effective treatment for heart failure outside of heart transplantation. Developed countries in Europe and the United States have carried out corresponding research since the middle of the 20th century and have been widely used today, saving a large number of dying patients.

　　How does the artificial heart work in the human body?

Liu Xiaocheng introduced that, to put it simply, it is an artificial blood pump connected in parallel with the heart. One end of the blood pump is connected to the left ventricle of the heart and the other is connected to the human aorta.

After being implanted in the human body, blood enters the blood pump from the left ventricle through the "inflow tube", and the blood pump pushes the blood out and transports it to the ascending aorta through the "outflow tube" to assist the patient's blood circulation.

It can partially or completely replace the work of the heart.

　　“Since 2013, the number of implanted ventricular assist devices in the world has far exceeded the number of heart transplants, and its survival rate has also exceeded that of heart transplants. The longest survival time of patients has exceeded 15 years.” Liu Xiaocheng said, although some developed countries have already It is included in the medical insurance, but because of the addition of the treatment fee of up to 200,000 US dollars, people are "pumping" and sighing.

The development of ventricular assist devices in my country started late, and there are no high-quality and inexpensive products to serve the Chinese people.

　　The third-generation artificial heart meets rocket technology

　　The artificial heart is known as the "jewel in the crown of medical devices".

This not only illustrates its great value, but also the difficulty of its research and development.

Since the birth of the artificial heart, it has experienced three generations of technological development in the world, and each leap is a huge scientific innovation.

　　“The first-generation artificial heart uses a pneumatic blood pump, which is very complicated and troublesome, and it is easy to cause infection. It has been basically eliminated; the second-generation artificial heart has been improved to a contact rotary pump. Simply put, the blood pump has a shaft. A pump with a shaft will increase friction, which will reduce mechanical efficiency and easily cause blood coagulation.” Liu Xiaocheng said that at present, countries around the world have begun to develop the third-generation artificial heart. The common feature is that the rotor and the bearing are not in contact with each other, but are suspended.

"The method we use is the magnetic-liquid double suspension technology."

　　During the rotation of the magnetic levitation rotor, it is easy to destroy the cells in the blood, and the blood will condense into blood clots and form thrombus.

Passing blood through the blood pump safely and at high speed is the key to solving the problem.

Therefore, the third-generation artificial heart must have stricter requirements on the quality of raw materials, the smoothness of laser welding, the coaxiality of the gear rotor and stator, the performance and parameters of electronic components, and the tightness of the product.

　　"In order to solve these problems, we found'rocket technology' to help." Liu Xiaocheng introduced that since 2009, Taixin Hospital has cooperated with the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology to target the third-generation non-contact suspension at the time. Ventricular assist devices are being studied, so this artificial heart is also called the "rocket heart".

　　The "Rocket Heart" utilizes my country's 50 years of technology accumulation in the field of carrier rocket servo control, and adopts the overall technical plan of magnetic-hydraulic double suspension, pump-engine integration, and electronic control double redundancy.

　　Xu Jian, chief engineer of Aerospace Taixin Technology Co., Ltd., said: "The environment in which the heart is located is much better than the environment faced by rockets. We use the rocket servo control system research and development team to carry out the cooperative research and development of the rocket core. Relevant technologies for rocket servo control systems have been applied in several fields, including fluids, control, drive, materials, and precision machining."

　　Taking the field of materials and precision processing as an example, the titanium alloy material used in the "rocket core" is also a common material for rocket manufacturing, which is light in weight and durable.

In 2012, in response to the issue of biocompatibility, "Rocket Heart" made breakthroughs through special technical research, and the hemolysis index reached the international advanced level.

　　Will replace heart transplants in the future

　　"Compared with heart transplantation, after implanting an artificial heart, you only need to take anticoagulants, and it is easy to monitor blood coagulation function. It is not necessary to take various anti-rejection drugs like heart transplantation." Liu Xiaocheng said, with the development of technology , Artificial heart can completely replace heart transplantation.

　　"And the third-generation artificial heart theoretically has no service life." Liu Xiaocheng explained, because the magnetic liquid suspension is used, the rotor is not worn.

Even if it fails, the artificial heart can be replaced.

Unlike heart transplantation, once the transplanted heart has problems, it is more troublesome to deal with.

　　At present, the third-generation artificial heart only needs a wire thinner than chopsticks to pass through the belly to connect the controller and the battery.

“It’s different from a pacemaker that only requires weak electricity. Since the artificial heart uses a blood pump and needs electrical energy to generate power, it needs to be connected to a battery outside the body.” Liu Xiaocheng said that the artificial heart needs two external batteries, each with its own battery. It can be used for 8 hours; at the same time, like a soldier carrying a bullet clip, the artificial heart also has two spare batteries, which are convenient for patients to use alternately and ensure safety.

　　In March 2019, Liu Xiaocheng led a medical team to implant the "Rocket Heart" into patients Mr. Li and Ms. Gao in the form of humanitarian assistance.

At present, Mr. Li and Ms. Gao have survived healthy for more than 550 days.

　　"Miniaturization is the future development direction of artificial hearts." Liu Xiaocheng introduced that the newly developed "Rocket Heart" that can be applied to children is only 90 grams, and animal experiments are expected to be carried out soon.