Artificial Heart
Would you like a mechanical heart? So far, twelve people have received AbioCor Implantable Replacement Hearts, the first completely self-contained artificial heart. "Self-contained" means that everything is inside the patient's body, including the batteries. A charger uses something called an inductive plate to send energy through the skin to charge the battery.

The AbioCor heart weighs about 2 pounds and is made of titanium and plastic. It can pump more than 10 liters of blood per minute, which is enough for everyday stuff like walking. The AbioCor works in a different way from a real heart. A real heart can pump blood to the lungs and the body on each beat. The AbioCor sends blood to the lungs and then to the body every other beat, instead of both at the same time. This helps to keep the artificial heart small, and there is still plenty of blood flow for normal life.

Photo courtesy Abiomed AbioCor artificial heart

Most people who get the AbioCor heart can live for five months after their transplants. That might not sound like much, but it is twice as long as they would have lived without it.