BiVACOR Total Artificial Heart: Australia’s first recipient of artificial heart discharged from hospital in world first

Almost two decades after his father died from heart failure, Daniel Timms has helped to transform treatment for patients across the globe.

His invention, the BiVACOR Total Artificial Heart, recently marked an important milestone when an Australian recipient became the first in the world to be discharged from hospital.

The durable titanium implant is designed to keep patients alive while they wait for a donor.

“The patient benefits from this, but the patient’s family benefit just as much,” Dr Timms said.

“I just wish it was around 20 years ago.”

Its compact nature means the artificial heart can cater to patients as young as 12 years old.

While the implant was temporary, Dr Timms said the longer-term goal was for it to become a permanent solution.

“We’re working towards making it as good as the (real) transplant,” he said.

“What we have is the first step towards doing that.”

Labelled an unmitigated success, Australia’s first recipient of the artificial heart was discharged from Sydney’s St Vincent’s Hospital in early February.

It was another significant moment in history for the hospital, where the first successful heart transplant in Australia was performed just over 40 years ago.

The artificial heart’s recipient - a man in his 40s who has declined to be identified - volunteered for the mechanical implant in November 2024 after severe heart failure.

Less than three months later, he was discharged from hospital, telling Dr Timms “maybe we can go for a pint sometime”.

The five previous recipients of the artificial heart, who are all based in the US, remain in care.

Known to sleep by patients’ bedsides after surgery, Dr Timms flew to Sydney from the US to monitor the man’s condition.

“He mentioned to me, ‘Daniel, I’m doing this for the sake of other heart failure patients’,” the Australian biomedical engineer said.

“If it works well, this is going to continue.”

Nearly 5000 Australians die because of heart failure each year, but the implant allows patients to do more than survive while waiting for a donor.

Before the operation, the man was dependent on drugs to keep him alive, lead surgeon Paul Jansz said.

“He literally had trouble walking to the toilet,” the St Vincent’s specialist said.

“This particular patient probably would not have made it to a (real) transplant.”

After he was discharged from hospital, the recipient returned to daily tasks such as grocery shopping and going to the gym.

He received a donor heart in early March and Dr Jansz said he was recovering well.

The implant was the first of a series planned in Australia as part of Monash University’s Artificial Heart Frontiers Program, combining key groups to develop and commercialise devices treating the most common forms of heart failure.