Press Release:

Steve Langford, senior clinical support specialist for SynCardia, holds the 100cc Jarvik 7 (photo left) and the modern 70cc SynCardia Total Artificial Heart during the 2007 Kolff Symposium in The Netherlands.

TUCSON, Ariz. – Aug. 18, 2009 – On Aug. 31, the life and accomplishments of Dr. Willem Johan Kolff, the world’s most prolific inventor of artificial organs, will be honored during the Kolff Memorial Symposium in The Netherlands, where he was born. Dr. Kolff passed away at the age of 97 on Feb. 11, 2009.

Among Dr. Kolff’s many accomplishments were the artificial kidney, heart-lung machine, artificial eye, artificial ear and artificial arm. However, he was best known for his decades of work that culminated in the first human implant of a permanent Total Artificial Heart in 1982.

“Over the years, there have been hundreds of Total Artificial Heart designs,” said Steve Langford, SynCardia’s senior clinical support specialist who started with the Total Artificial Heart in 1983. “It’s a true testament to Dr. Kolff’s work that his Total Artificial Heart has been implanted more than 800 times, and is the only one that is approved and in use worldwide today.”

In 1947, the modern day SynCardia temporary CardioWest™ Total Artificial Heart began as a dream of Dr. Willem Kolff, the world’s most prolific inventor of artificial organs.

At the symposium, Dr. Michiel Morshuis, senior physician and heart surgeon at the Heart & Diabetes Center NRW in Bad Oeynhausen, Germany, will present on clinical experience with the modern version of Dr. Kolff’s Total Artificial Heart, the SynCardia temporary CardioWest™ Total Artificial Heart. He will also introduce the 12-lb wearable discharge driver currently under development that is designed to power the Total Artificial Heart outside the hospital.

The Heart & Diabetes Center NRW has performed more than 130 implants of the Total Artificial Heart. The hospital also pioneered the development and use of the first portable driver to allow stable Total Artificial Heart patients in Europe to enjoy a quality life at home while they wait for a matching donor heart.

In 2007, SynCardia loaned the Kolff Museum the modern version of the artificial heart Dr. Kolff started in 1947. This year, SynCardia will present the museum with a stand-up display of its new Companion Hospital Driver and a 3-D model of the new discharge driver, both in the final stages of development.

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About SynCardia Systems, Inc.

SynCardia Systems, Inc. is the Tucson-based manufacturer of the world’s only FDA, Health Canada and CE approved Total Artificial Heart: the SynCardia temporary Total Artificial Heart. There have been more than 850 implants of the Total Artificial Heart, accounting for more than 190 patient years of life on the device. 

Originally used as a permanent replacement heart, the Total Artificial Heart is currently approved as a bridge to human heart transplant for people dying from end-stage biventricular failure. The Total Artificial Heart is the only device that provides immediate, safe blood flow of up to 9.5 L/min through both ventricles.

For additional information, please visit: http://www.syncardia.com
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Media Contact:
Don Isaacs
Vice President of Communications
SynCardia Systems, Inc.
Cell: (520) 955-0660