PATIENTS installed with China’s HeartCon’s left ventricular ‘assist’ device have the advantage of being assisted anywhere in the world whenever they encounter issues relating to the artificial heart machine, a Cardiovascular Surgeon at the Tianjin Economic-Technological Department Area (TEDA) International Cardiovascular Hospital (TICH), Dr ZG Liu said.
Dr Liu highlighted this when introducing TEDA TICH’s artificial heart device to Asia-Pacific journalists when they visited TEDA on Thursday 19 June. The visit to TEDA was among activities hosted for the journalists by the China Global Television Network’s (CGTN’s) Close Up China Tour of Tianjin City.
The HeartCon left ventricular ‘assist’ device is the latest of three China-made artificial heart devices designed to address “end-stage” heart failure. It was independent developed by Rocor Medical Technology Co., Ltd. The other two devices are “Corheart 6” and “EVAPulser Ventricular Assist Device.” Corheart 6 was developed by Shenzhen Medical Technology, and EVAPulser by “Evaheart Medical.”
“In China, we have a Beidou Navigation Satellite System, which provides all-time, all-weather and high accuracy positioning, navigation and timing services. Our patients wearing this device can be anywhere in the world, yet we can use our cellphones to locate the device.
“We can attend to them, providing them guidance, and we can also provide guidance to our doctors dealing with them. The complication associated with this device is believed to be the least in comparison to other artificial heart devices, and this is the three-year outcome (feedback) in comparison to our old-generation devices.
“The first-generation devices are something like the heartstring device in the western world. Now we have this second-generation device. This second-generation heart device is the best one. It is a fully magnetic system device. It is powerful and can generate like10 liter [blood]per minute.”
“This HeartCon [left ventricular assist] device can supply 10 litter [blood] flow, which can cater for a big cow or an even a bigger animal like elephant. For human beings, 5 liters is enough,” he added.
“For this new heart device, the price is yet to be given. But for the old-generation devices, it is 50,000 RMB. This price is for a whole set. The price of the new-generation device may be the same as the old-generation devices, or even lower to ensure affordability by patients. Chinese patients and can afford the price of 50,000 RMB,” Dr Liu added.
Dr Liu said the old-generation devices are only available in China, while the new generation device will be made available in South America, Europe and the wider Asian region.
Meanwhile, in an interview with Solomon Star, Dr Liu spoke about TED TICH’s charity program, the largest charity program in China.
“So, my mentor Liu Xiaocheng founded this hospital, and our hospital introduced a charity program in 2004. This program deals with congenital heart effects in children in 19 Chinese provinces and regions, including Heilongjiang, Liaoning, Inner Mongolia, Tianjin, Hebei, Shanxi, Qianhai, Gansu, Ningxia, Tibet, Sichuan, Chongqing, Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi, Henan, Jiangxi, Anhui and Jiangsu.
“You know, my specialty is congenital heart problem. I fix the heart of newborns with congenital effects. Our charity program gets funding from everywhere in this country. But our big charity funding comes from China Mobile, which gives us funds to the tune of 30 million RMB each year.
“So, we have sufficient funding to go as far as to the Tibetan people. We send our team there and our device and make dialogues there, collect all the patients and attend to them.
“Overall, our charity program has attended to 16,000 patients. We attend to those with minor to very complex heart defects. This is a unique program in China,” Dr Liu said.
A HeartCon left ventricular assist device functions as a pump delivering blood to a patient’s whole body, significantly alleviating the symptoms of the heart failure.
It is a small controller device with a size similar to a mobile phone and a patient wears it on the waist. This machine records various data such as the speed, flow, power and heart rate of the blood pump. A thin wire connects to the battery, continuously assisting in pumping blood to organs throughout a patient’s body.
TEDA TICH is a public Tertiary Class A, the highest tier in China’s hospital classification system. It is specialized cardiovascular hospital and research institute established by the Tianjin Economic-Technological Department Area.
By DELI-SHARON OSO
In Beijing, China
