Earlier this month, 7-year-old little Jun-Jun was given another chance at life after Wuhan doctors implanted the world’s smallest and latest artificial heart innovation using ultra-modern magnetic levitation technology.
Diagnosed with severe heart failure in May 2024, Jun Jun, was faced with the harsh reality of dichotomy, where his rare blood type and building complications, such as respiratory distress and infections, made donor matches nearly impossible.
Domestic physicians advised that he receives the latest artificial heart transplant, rejecting conventional stopgaps. After detailed deliberations with the family, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Professor Dong Nianguo concluded that it would proceed with the implantation of the world’s smallest artificial heart.
“Children are not adults with smaller bodies. They need an artificial heart designed specifically for them,” Dr. Dong said.
A Fully Magnetically Levitated Circulatory Pump for Advanced Heart Failure
The machine took three years to make and is just 45 grams and the width of a cap on a bottle of mineral water and is 2.9 centimeters in diameter, making it the lightest and smallest artificial heart of its kind in the world, the hospital claimed.
Unlike adult artificial hearts and heart transplants, this heart is only designed for children, with each component tailored to the needs of young patients. Operating at 1,500 to 3,600 revolutions per minute (RPM), the pump provides a smooth flow of blood, allowing the ventricles of the heart to recover while the body’s circulation continues.
The five-hour procedure went well.
“Thanks to the doctors, our child now has a chance to survive and wait for a transplant,” Junjun’s father said, adding that “once his inflammation clears, we’ll be able to go home.”
The little patient started breathing on his own the following day and had the smallest heart pump. Later Jun Jun was then transferred to a specialized recovery unit within five days. His vital signs are steady, and doctors add that he’s exhibiting good potential for future treatment.
Latest Artificial Heart Solution to a Global Issue
The magnetic levitation heartpediatric device is the result of three years of collaboration among physicians, engineers, and researchers, distinguishing China’s role in medical innovation, putting it on the map of a domain long dominated by Western technology.
China’s medical achievement also reflects how important it is to engineer technology from scratch for medical cases rather than war and world destruction. Imaging if the resources poured into wars, weapon manufacturing, and death, were actually redirected to such creating medical prodigies.
“China has made significant strides in end-stage heart disease treatment, progressing from a follower to a leader in select fields,” said Xia Jiahong, the hospital’s chief.
As Jun Jun gets better, the latest artificial heart case highlights the growing significance of the artificial heart invented by China’s research in medicine towards addressing urgent health concerns with treatments specifically designed for the most susceptible of patients – the children.
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