Realheart
A Unique Innovation To Improve Health Outcomes

Heart failure is a leading cause of death, affecting at least 26 million people worldwide every year, and is poised to exacerbate even further due to an aging global population and an increase in cardiovascular risk factors. The human heart primarily fails when the heart’s function to pump blood deteriorates. The cure is a heart transplant; however, donated hearts only account for two percent of the total global requirement. A Swedish company, Realheart, turns the tide with a total artificial heart (TAH) device to treat advanced-stage heart failure, completely replacing the diseased natural heart. The Realheart TAH device is designed to mimic the function and form of the natural heart, gently circulating blood through the atria and ventricles with its unique atrioventricular plane. The real game-changer is that the company’s product not only aims to save a patient’s life but it also strives to improve their quality of life.

Realheart TAH has a unique, patented design that resembles the natural human heart. The artificial heart consists of a four-chamber system (two atriums and two chambers) which provides the opportunity to generate a physiologically adapted blood flow that mimics the body’s natural circulation. With an intuitive design, the Realheart TAH can easily be integrated with the human vascular system to deliver a physiological blood flow with a normal oxygen saturation level, similar to a healthy heart. The design also minimizes the risk of stroke, bleeding, and anemia—common side effects of existing heart pumps in use today.

The Realheart TAH pumps blood to the lungs from the right-side pump and to the rest of the body through its left-side pump, which is done simultaneously in a synchronized manner.

This construction allows blood to continuously flow into the atrium while being pumped out in pulses from the ventricle (one of two large chambers toward the bottom of the heart that collect and expel blood towards the peripheral beds within the body and lungs) just like a human heart.

The artificial heart consists of all necessary patient equipment, including the controller, battery belt, charger, and cables. The device’s controller adapts to different activities and pumps blood according to those requirements. The intelligent controller also measures the blood pressure and regulates the blood’s pumping force leveraging the information on human activities. The Realheart system also comes with equipment for the care provider at the hospital, equipment servicing, training for healthcare staff, and 24/7 support.

Moreover, as the company aims to improve the patients’ quality of life, all the Realheart TAH accessories only weigh two and a half kilos and come with various portable solutions such as a belt and harness. Further, the device is entirely soundless, rendering a tranquil lifestyle to the patients. The primary and spare batteries of the Realheart TAH offer a battery life of approximately 12 hours, giving the patients a great deal of personal freedom without the hassle of often connecting to the electrical sockets for recharging the batteries.

Keeping up with the Swedish innovation tradition The Swedish healthcare industry has been a trailblazer that has innovated several medical technological inventions, including the heart and lung machine, the pacemaker, and the dialysis machine. The next great innovation is Realheart’s artificial heart, Realheart TAH. One of the company founders, Azad Najar, outlined the company’s vision in 1999 when he began designing an artificial heart that mimicked the human heart. In 2007, Azad and two business partners laid the cornerstone of Realheart.

The idea behind Realheart TAH is based on fluid dynamics studies performed at the Swedish Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) from 2002 to 2005 to construct an artificial heart that mimics the blood flow of the human heart. By imitating the human heart’s primary pumping principle, physiological pressure and flow are created to reduce the risk of blood clots and provide energy-efficient pumping. These factors play a significant role in ensuring a good quality of life for patients.

Led by a strong, competent and engaged team, competent and broad management team, under a strong board of directors, Realheart, over the years, has developed a series of prototypes and gradually solved one challenge after another. The company has verified blood circulation, pump function, pressure, and pulse generation in ethically approved animal experiments. Today, research is carried out in a close collaboration with world-leading heart surgeons, international researchers, and engineers, and Realheart is already witnessing interest from several industry players. Realheart has also been pilot testing the German Virtonomy web platform v-Patients containing 3D anatomical models of heart failure patients. Now, the company is moving forward with a full license and more patients to test the clinical version of its artificial heart virtually and collect data in preparation for human clinical trials and the subsequent market launch.