Anthony Shannon, 62, of Livonia, MI, spoke to the media at his hospital bed Tuesday, six days after receiving the high-tech DuraHeart. "My doctor told me this is the best way to go," the former director of homeland security for Wayne County told the Free Press, referring to the device.
The DuraHeart, made by Terumo Heart Inc. of Ann Arbor, will buy Shannon time to get a heart donor and prepare his weak heart for a future transplant surgery. But the device, which can last up to 10 years or longer than similar devices, can be a permanent substitute for a heart transplant.
DuraHeart is the size of a hockey puck and is powered by batteries. It differs from mechanical heart pumps in that it uses magnetism to keep an interior disc turning non-stop to push blood into a flexible artificial blood vessel connected to the heart.
A team led by surgeon Francis Pagani implanted the DuraHeart on Shannon's abdomen. A second tube of the pump exits the body and is connected to a microcomputer that powers the device.
