An Indian hospital has successfully performed Asia's first artificial heart transplant on a 54-year-old man. A team of doctors from Narayana Hrudayalaya hospital in Bangalore, under the guidance of their counterparts of University of Minnesota, the U.S., successfully performed the transplant on Venkata Krishnaiah, a chronic diabetic and heart patient on March 20th.

The surgeons implanted a ventricular assist device, or VAD, in the patient in a four-hour surgery. The device, measuring 60 millimetres (2.4 inches) in diameter and weighing 298 grams (10 ounces), is implanted in the lower part of the chest below the heart, AFP reports.

Since the VAD is connected to an external battery by a cable, it can be recharged every four hours. The device is a centrifugal pump that sucks the blood from the heart and can pump 10 litres of blood per minute. A normal device can only pump 4-5 litres. The VAD costs about US$ 85,000 dollars but the hospital waived off the fee.

The patient, identified as Venkatakrishniah, had a severe heart attack in 2003. Despite a bypass surgery, he was unable to work and took voluntary retirement. Venkatakrishniah was quoted as saying by the Times of India newspaper that he can now walk and climb stairs after the surgery.

Such surgeries are common in U.S. and Europe and artificial hearts have been implanted in 220 patients in the past eight years. However the Bangalore operation was the first of its kind in Asia.