Latest news with #BiVACOR
Time Magazine
08-05-2025
- Health
- Time Magazine
Daniel Timms
As a kid growing up in Australia, Daniel Timms shared a passion with his father, a plumber, for building fishponds behind their house, tinkering with how to recycle the water. Years later, his father needed a heart transplant and was struggling with a mechanical valve prone to breaking down while waiting for one. Father and son—who was by then a bioengineering student—realized a better implant design was sitting in their backyard. 'The pond pumps are basically spinning discs,' Timms says—a simpler, more resilient machinery to circulate blood than most implants use. They built prototypes of their improved implant—which they called an artificial heart—on their kitchen table, and Timms continued to improve the design over his career as an engineer. Since mid-2024, people have reaped the benefits through an early FDA-approved study based in the U.S. and simultaneous studies in Australia. In March, an Australian man lived a record 105 days with Timms's device, called the BiVACOR Total Artificial Heart, before receiving a heart transplant. 'It's a paradigm shift,' says Timms, BiVACOR's founder and chief technical officer. A magnetic field levitates the disc, eliminating friction and degradation, so he believes it could potentially become a permanent fix, not just a stopgap measure before a transplant. Plus, clotting and infection are less likely compared to previous types. With over 6 million Americans suffering heart failure—and fewer than 4,500 getting heart transplants annually—it's anticipated that more than 20 patients will have received Timms' device over the course of 2025 in three countries, including the U.S. The goal is to use the artificial heart beyond experimental trials, in regular treatment. Timms's father passed away before he could see this progress. 'We knew we probably couldn't finish it in time for him,' Timms says. 'We worked tirelessly, but not just for him. It was for everyone.'
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
He tried to save his father by building an artifical heart. His creation could replace organ transplants
Gary Timms had suffered from slowly progressive heart failure for more than five years. But in the end, his passing aged 55 was swift and cruel. 'It was very fast, you know, like from the admission to the ICU, and then it was just… very, very quick,' his son Daniel says, his voice halting briefly. What comforts Daniel is the fact that his plumber father – 'a real tinkerer' – had helped him for the duration of his illness on a biomedical engineering PhD project that would one day turn near-death for people facing a similar fate into a second life. The father-and-son duo had worked tirelessly at their family home in Brisbane, Queensland, to make a prototype of what would eventually become the first durable total artificial heart, a mechanical blood pump made from titanium. The device, made by Daniel's company BiVACOR, with the only metal that isn't rejected by the body, made global headlines last month when it transpired that a recipient in Sydney had become the world's first person to be discharged from hospital with the device in situ. He lived with the device for more than 100 days before undergoing surgery to receive a donated human heart replacement. As part of an initial human feasibility study, five heart failure patients in the United States had already previously received the devices – the first procedure took place in Texas last July – but had remained in hospital until a donor heart could be transplanted. 'This patient went home [until his donor heart became available] and was able to be a normal guy, walking the streets of Sydney with a lunch box in his backpack, so yes, it was pretty, pretty good,' Timms says casually. Pretty good indeed, yet something of a humble understatement. Speaking on the run, during a visit with his BiVACOR senior team to a hospital in Taiwan to discuss this new device, fast-talking Timms, 46, is flying high in a blaze of medical glory but he's had no time to celebrate. The striking inventor had already been hailed as a 'medtech heartthrob' when named as a finalist in the 2021 Global Australian Awards – and now, he's fast becoming a household name. 'I think we're just immersed in it so much that it's hard for us to kind of step aside and go, 'wow',' he says. In his most candid and detailed interview yet about his father's key practical input into their invention – and his heartbreaking premature death in 2006 – Timms discloses how they would take over the family home with all sorts of metals, wires and plastics as they worked together on developing the early prototypes. 'I wanted to work on inventing something for my PhD that could even save my father's life [after his initial heart attack in 2001] and he was equally committed and excited.' His mother, Karen, and older brother, Darren, were 'supportive' but Timms admits 'it was really annoying for them'. 'I mean, we're taking over the kitchen and using the oven to mould PVC.' Their winning combination of skills made the project excel: while his father concentrated on the mechanics of the project, the more academically focused Daniel pored over 'at least' 500 medical studies and reports on heart transplants and the devices that were already being used. He learnt that while artificial devices had been used in the past, they largely supported only one part of the heart. 'We were able to learn what the limitations were and what we can do to improve on that. 'Dad had pumps and pipes and everything in the backyard, pumping water around the pool, and those pumps have this spinning disc inside them. 'That's also how they pump [pool] waterfalls and slow them down… and it's also how jet skis work. So it's kind of like, 'Oh, well, why can't we use that kind of approach for the body as well? It's just another system, right?'' Developing the early concept was just the start of an arduous 25-year journey, however; it has taken the past 10 years alone to seek regulatory approval, investment and also trust from the transplant medical community: 'We first sought approval from the FDA [Food and Drug Administration] on purpose as it has the strictest standards.' During the 'calm but tense' operations of each of the six 'very brave' first batch of patients, Timms has been in the theatre himself, overseeing the device being implanted and ensuring it works, alongside a huge medical team. Dr Paul Jansz, the lead heart transplant surgeon for the Australian procedure at St Vincent's Hospital in Sydney, speaks of his deep admiration for Timms and shared the vital point in the operation when the device was implanted. 'There's always a sort of lump in your throat as you're cutting the heart out, because that's a seminal moment,' he says. 'Once it [the BiVACOR device] worked, it worked very well, and it immediately supported his circulation.' As for the patient, a man from New South Wales in his 40s, who has not been named, his clinical presentation after the surgery exceeded expectations. 'Before the surgery, he could barely walk across the room, so he was almost bed-bound,' Dr Jansz explains. 'Patients like this are on a precipice and can go either way; they can just collapse and arrest, or in this case we get them an artificial heart transplant using a device like this one and their kidneys start working better, their liver starts working better.' As a result, the patients are in more robust health to have their donor heart transplant, when the call comes. But using the device simply as a stopgap is not the end goal for ambitious Timms. His aim is for this device to be used for life and to completely replace the need for donor hearts, along with the precariously long waiting lists. While the 600g device is too large for babies and small children, their widespread approval could potentially decrease the anxiety of parents knowing their child will need to be retransplanted as teenagers or young adults. 'This trial is just a stepping stone to that goal,' he says. 'Ultimately, patients will come to the hospital and get this device and then they don't come back; they have the device for the rest of their life and that will be incredible.' Timms, who says he's so focused on his work that he has no time for hobbies or even a personal life, hopes that by as early as next year, the current trial of 20 patients (and the further trials that will be required) could expand to more countries, including the UK, depending on regulations and funding. There is certainly the need: according to the British Heart Foundation, there are more than 7.6 million people living with heart and circulatory diseases in the UK. Tragically, the deeply cherished loved one who Timms says could have benefited from the device is no longer here. Thankfully, amid his hectic schedule, he's been able to read regular text messages from his mother, Karen, back home in Australia, which remind him of his father's lasting legacy; the lives already saved thanks to his early input. 'She tells me how proud my father would be, and that means a lot… But I know deep down he'd also be saying, 'You've done six, Daniel, but keep your head down and don't get ahead of yourself – there are still many things to do.'' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
23-04-2025
- Health
- Telegraph
He tried to save his father by building an artificial heart. His creation could replace organ transplants
Gary Timms had suffered from slowly progressive heart failure for more than five years. But in the end, his passing aged 55 was swift and cruel. 'It was very fast, you know, like from the admission to the ICU, and then it was just… very, very quick,' his son Daniel says, his voice halting briefly. What comforts Daniel is the fact that his plumber father – 'a real tinkerer' – had helped him for the duration of his illness on a biomedical engineering PhD project that would one day turn near-death for people facing a similar fate into a second life. The father-and-son duo had worked tirelessly at their family home in Brisbane, Queensland, to make a prototype of what would eventually become the first durable total artificial heart, a mechanical blood pump made from titanium. The device, made by Daniel's company BiVACOR, with the only metal that isn't rejected by the body, made global headlines last month when it transpired that a recipient in Sydney had become the world's first person to be discharged from hospital with the device in situ. He lived with the device for more than 100 days before undergoing surgery to receive a donated human heart replacement. As part of an initial human feasibility study, five heart failure patients in the United States had already previously received the devices – the first procedure took place in Texas last July – but had remained in hospital until a donor heart could be transplanted. 'This patient went home [until his donor heart became available] and was able to be a normal guy, walking the streets of Sydney with a lunch box in his backpack, so yes, it was pretty, pretty good,' Timms says casually. Pretty good indeed, yet something of a humble understatement. Speaking on the run, during a visit with his BiVACOR senior team to a hospital in Taiwan to discuss this new device, fast-talking Timms, 46, is flying high in a blaze of medical glory but he's had no time to celebrate. The striking inventor had already been hailed as a 'medtech heartthrob' when named as a finalist in the 2021 Global Australian Awards – and now, he's fast becoming a household name. 'I think we're just immersed in it so much that it's hard for us to kind of step aside and go, 'wow',' he says. In his most candid and detailed interview yet about his father's key practical input into their invention – and his heartbreaking premature death in 2006 – Timms discloses how they would take over the family home with all sorts of metals, wires and plastics as they worked together on developing the early prototypes. 'I wanted to work on inventing something for my PhD that could even save my father's life [after his initial heart attack in 2001] and he was equally committed and excited.' His mother, Karen, and older brother, Darren, were 'supportive' but Timms admits 'it was really annoying for them'. 'I mean, we're taking over the kitchen and using the oven to mould PVC.' Their winning combination of skills made the project excel: while his father concentrated on the mechanics of the project, the more academically focused Daniel pored over 'at least' 500 medical studies and reports on heart transplants and the devices that were already being used. He learnt that while artificial devices had been used in the past, they largely supported only one part of the heart. 'We were able to learn what the limitations were and what we can do to improve on that. 'Dad had pumps and pipes and everything in the backyard, pumping water around the pool, and those pumps have this spinning disc inside them. 'That's also how they pump [pool] waterfalls and slow them down… and it's also how jet skis work. So it's kind of like, 'Oh, well, why can't we use that kind of approach for the body as well? It's just another system, right?'' Developing the early concept was just the start of an arduous 25-year journey, however; it has taken the past 10 years alone to seek regulatory approval, investment and also trust from the transplant medical community: 'We first sought approval from the FDA [Food and Drug Administration] on purpose as it has the strictest standards.' During the 'calm but tense' operations of each of the six 'very brave' first batch of patients, Timms has been in the theatre himself, overseeing the device being implanted and ensuring it works, alongside a huge medical team. Dr Paul Jansz, the lead heart transplant surgeon for the Australian procedure at St Vincent's Hospital in Sydney, speaks of his deep admiration for Timms and shared the vital point in the operation when the device was implanted. 'There's always a sort of lump in your throat as you're cutting the heart out, because that's a seminal moment,' he says. 'Once it [the BiVACOR device] worked, it worked very well, and it immediately supported his circulation.' As for the patient, a man from New South Wales in his 40s, who has not been named, his clinical presentation after the surgery exceeded expectations. 'Before the surgery, he could barely walk across the room, so he was almost bed-bound,' Dr Jansz explains. 'Patients like this are on a precipice and can go either way; they can just collapse and arrest, or in this case we get them an artificial heart transplant using a device like this one and their kidneys start working better, their liver starts working better.' As a result, the patients are in more robust health to have their donor heart transplant, when the call comes. But using the device simply as a stopgap is not the end goal for ambitious Timms. His aim is for this device to be used for life and to completely replace the need for donor hearts, along with the precariously long waiting lists. While the 600g device is too large for babies and small children, their widespread approval could potentially decrease the anxiety of parents knowing their child will need to be retransplanted as teenagers or young adults. 'This trial is just a stepping stone to that goal,' he says. 'Ultimately, patients will come to the hospital and get this device and then they don't come back; they have the device for the rest of their life and that will be incredible.' Timms, who says he's so focused on his work that he has no time for hobbies or even a personal life, hopes that by as early as next year, the current trial of 20 patients (and the further trials that will be required) could expand to more countries, including the UK, depending on regulations and funding. There is certainly the need: according to the British Heart Foundation, there are more than 7.6 million people living with heart and circulatory diseases in the UK. Tragically, the deeply cherished loved one who Timms says could have benefited from the device is no longer here. Thankfully, amid his hectic schedule, he's been able to read regular text messages from his mother, Karen, back home in Australia, which remind him of his father's lasting legacy; the lives already saved thanks to his early input. 'She tells me how proud my father would be, and that means a lot… But I know deep down he'd also be saying, 'You've done six, Daniel, but keep your head down and don't get ahead of yourself – there are still many things to do.''
Yahoo
18-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
A Man Lived Over 100 Days With a Titanium Heart. What If He's the Future of Medicine?
"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." Millions of people around the world suffer from heart failure with not nearly enough donors to go around. A new life-saving titanium device called the BiVACOR Total Artificial Heart (TAH) recently kept a patient alive for more than 100 days while awaiting a donor heart. Although designed as a stop-gap device for would-be heart donor recipients, the titanium heart could be a future permanent heart replacement for those too old or sick to undergo a transplant. Being a man with a heart of stone isn't usually a compliment, but a heart of titanium, on the other hand, might just save your life. At least that's true for one particular Australian man who lived with an artificial titanium heart while waiting for a match for a heart transplant. According to St. Vincent's Hospital Sydney in Australia, the man eventually received that heart and is recovering well. The patient was the sixth person to ever receive the BiVACOR Total Artificial Heart (TAH), the first to do so in Australia, and also the first to live with the device for more than a month, but he didn't stop there—his titanium ticker was pumping blood for more than 100 days. That's particularly impressive as the mechanical device was initially designed as a stopgap measure as patients with heart failure wait for a donor heart—and those waiting lists can be to Nature, 7 million adults live with heart failure in the U.S. alone yet only 4,500 heart transplants were performed in 2023. That leaves many millions across the globe in need of short-term solutions while waiting for a heart, and it appears BiVACOR can help in the most severe circumstances. The five previous trials of the device, all in the United States, also were successes though they featured earlier versions of the device that weren't designed for at-home support. The first device was implanted on July 9, 2024, at The Texas Heart Institute. 'Utilizing advanced MAGLEV technology, our TAH brings us one step closer to providing a desperately needed option for people with end-stage heart failure who require support while waiting for a heart transplant,' Daniel Timms, the CTO of BiVACOR, said after the successful implantation in July. Suitable for most men and women, this small device uses a titanium biventricular rotary pump that, as Timms describes, contains a magnetically levitated rotor that pumps blood and therefore replaces the need for the failing heart's ventricles. This MAGLEV technology ensures that there's no wear-and tear of the device, a defect that could prove fatal for someone relying on the titanium heart, or incidences of blood trauma.[WHOEVER TOP EDITS, READ THAT LAST SENTENCE. DOESNT THAT NOT MAKE SENSE? FEEL WE CAN JUST CUT] The TAH is currently only a short-term solution for those with heart failure, but that may not always be the case. In some cases, patients who are too old or sick for a transplant could use the BiVACOR TAH as a permanent replacement. However, Nature notes that the device still needs to go through trials for such an application. 'Many end-stage heart disease patients are actually too sick to qualify for heart transplants,' heart surgeon Jacob N. Schroder, surgical director of Advanced Heart Failure at Duke, who performed the second BiVACOR TAH operation in November 2024, said in a press statement. 'Current technologies are effective for some patients but still leave others without options. Having another way to bridge a path to transplant would fill a tremendous void and truly be a lifesaver.' For now, BiVACOR TAH is only accessible in clinical trials approved by the FDA, and the Australian implantation is part of Monash University's Artificial Heart Frontiers Program that aims to commercialize life-saving heart failure devices. BiVACOR TAH isn't quite like the flexible membranes that made up replacement hearts in the past, but its six-for-six winning streak certainly has cardiologists and surgeons around the world taking notice. You Might Also Like The Do's and Don'ts of Using Painter's Tape The Best Portable BBQ Grills for Cooking Anywhere Can a Smart Watch Prolong Your Life?
Yahoo
14-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
In world first, man leaves hospital with titanium heart
It looks like it's straight out of a comic book, but BiVACOR is a real, functioning titanium heart. The metal device is ultimately intended as a replacement for human donor organs, but was first utilized last year as a stopgap for hospital patients awaiting transplants. According to its creators and St. Vincent's Hospital representatives in Sydney, Australia, the groundbreaking invention recently marked a major milestone: a man survived for over 100 days with his BiVACOR implant, and was even temporarily discharged from the medical facility with it still pumping blood inside him. The titanium device's underlying principles were first envisioned in 2001 by a biomedical engineer named Daniel Timms. Timms, a plumber's son, started by mimicking a human circulatory system using hardware store pipes and valves, but over the next 25 years, developed what would become BiVACOR. The end-result works without any actual valves and relies on a single moving part. This magnetically levitating rotor spins between two chambers while never coming into contact with the titanium frame itself, and thus eliminates the risk of gradual corrosion or malfunctions. The entire device weighs less than 1.5 lbs, and is powered by an external battery located on the abdomen. It's also small enough to fit inside both men and women, as well as children as young as 12 years old. Research also suggests BiVOCAR can support an adult during strenuous exercise. In 2024, doctors in the US and Australia made history by successfully installing the roughly fist-sized pump in a total of five patients. One of them, a man in his 40s dealing with severe heart failure, could only manage to walk a few feet before losing his breath. In the weeks following the six-hour procedure, however, the patient regained enough strength and mobility to leave the hospital until a donor heart became available. He returned to receive his human transplant in early March, and is now recovering, according to a March 12 announcement from St. Vincent's Hospital. 'Heart failure kills almost 5,000 Australians every year. We've worked towards this moment for years and we're enormously proud to have been the first team in Australia to carry out this procedure,' Paul Jansz, a heart surgeon involved in the procedure, said in a separate statement. BiVACOR isn't commercially available yet, but four more devices are being readied for use in Australia by the end of 2025. In the future, these titanium hearts may not just serve as temporary tools, but instead offer longterm and perhaps even permanent replacements.
