‘Game Changer’: Albanese Government Pumps $50 Million into World-First Artificial Heart

The journey to innovation kicked off when an Australian inventor teamed up with his father to craft heart prototypes using Bunnings parts.

3D illustration of a heart in transplant in a human body. Explode/Shutterstock

The Albanese Government is spending $50 million (US$32.8 million) to create and sell the world’s most advanced artificial heart, a breakthrough technology poised to halve global deaths from heart failure.

The technology mimics a natural heart using advanced magnetic levitation, providing heart failure patients with over ten years of an active lifestyle for the first time.

The journey began when Australian inventor Daniel Timms and his plumber dad made heart prototypes from materials bought at Bunnings.

Following his dad’s death from heart failure, Mr. Timms vowed to develop the heart as part of his Ph.D. project twenty years ago, and now it is set for its first human trial.

“What we’re doing is using a spinning disk that essentially wooshes the blood around the body instead of beating it around,” the 2023 Qld Australian of the Year Nominee explained.

He added that the heart uses magnetic levitation technology is what sets it apart, as the magnet works to rid the heart of any mechanical wear, making it “extremely durable.”

“And that’s the analogy or the comparison to trains in Japan and China that are mechanically levitated—We use the same technology,” he told ABC Radio Melbourne.

Mr. Timms highlighted the shortage of donor hearts to meet heart failure patients’ needs.

“Even the donor heart is not without its challenges with immunosuppressants,” he said.

Therefore, the life-saving device will be implanted in a patient as soon as it is needed.

“And we’re really at the starting line for that to happen in the next year,” he added.

“No doubt this technology is going to save a lot of people in the future, and the government is really allowing us to put our best foot forward.”

Health Minister Mark Butler announced the third-largest grant in the nearly ten-year history of the Medical Research Future Fund on Feb. 20.

“As well as the obvious health benefits, this is an incredible story of Australian ingenuity and sovereign manufacturing, with collaboration across universities, clinical hospitals, and industry to develop the world’s most advanced artificial heart,” he said.

Blood Compatibility Tests

Associate Professor Michael Simmonds from Griffith’s Mechanobiology Research Laboratory conducted unique tests on the heart to ensure it is “blood friendly.”

After testing, he noted a considerable improvement over current devices, which typically maintain a fixed blood flow rate, which can lead to various issues for patients such as not adapting to the body’s changing needs, causing patients to be breathless.

“Ultimately, this is a game changer for those with advanced heart failure who are typically bed-bound,” he said.

“Especially for the 95 percent of those with heart failure that are unable to receive native heart transplants.”

Mr. Simmonds said it comes following extraordinary collaboration among engineers, designers, scientists, and medical experts, united to tackle the challenge of heart failure.

This expert collaboration marks a global milestone, where the device is digitally designed, assessed through simulations and physical testing, and approved for clinical use.

“Nothing has been overlooked. Even down to the patient-device interface being guided by industrial design experts that will ensure user-friendly technologies,” he assured.

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Associate Professor Shaun Gregory affirmed that technology advancements extend beyond just the development of the heart.

“Development has commenced on a pipeline of peripheral complementary products: a wearable controller, infection-resistant driveline, Smart Advisor for clinicians, mobile phone application and website for patients, online feedback portal for clinicians, customisable wearables for patients, and enhanced surgical tools and clinical training platforms for surgeons,” he said.

He mentioned that the novel innovations spanning 15 years, from 2022 to 2036, are projected to generate at least $1.8 billion for the Australian economy.

“This includes savings to the healthcare system, industry expansion in research and manufacturing, creation of jobs, and giving Australian patients early access to clinical trials and emerging lifesaving technologies,” he said.

Heart Defect Patients Awaiting Groundbreaking Device

In Australia, heart failure affects 500,000 people, with over 50,000 new diagnoses each year.

Globally, over 64 million patients are affected, and its prevalence is increasing with an aging population.

Heart failure usually gets worse over time, leading to poorer quality of life, more hospital visits, and, ultimately, shorter lifespans for patients.

One of those patients is Peter Callinan, 48, who currently relies on the existing heart device, having undergone surgery for a congenital heart defect at 18 months old at Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital.

“They got me through to this point and that could only keep me going for so long. In effect my heart was working overtime for all those years,” he said.

“I’m on the list for a heart transplant. I’ve been on the list since about June/July last year. Only 100 or so Australians are lucky enough to receive a transplant each year.”

He said the new heart is “extremely exciting” for those awaiting transplants.

“Heart failure is a term I’m coming to terms with as many thousands are around Australia, but to be here in Australia I couldn’t be in a better spot for potentially having things rectified,” he said

Clinical trials will start at the Alfred in Melbourne and St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney, with the heart anticipated to be available as early as 2031.