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 the SynCardia temporary Total Artificial Heart
SynCardia Systems, Inc. (Tucson, AZ) is the privately-held manufacturer of the world's first and only FDA, Health Canada and CE approved Total Artificial Heart. Originally used as a permanent replacement heart, SynCardia's Total Artificial Heart is currently approved as a bridge to transplant for people dying from end-stage biventricular heart failure. There have been more than 950 implants of the Total Artificial Heart, accounting for more than 230 patient years of life.

Similar to a heart transplant, SynCardia's Total Artificial Heart replaces both failing heart ventricles and the four heart valves, eliminating the symptoms and source of end-stage biventricular failure. Unlike a donor heart, the Total Artificial Heart is immediately available at SynCardia Certified Centers and does not require expensive anti-rejection medication, which can cause subsequent complications. It is the only device that provides immediate, safe blood flow of up to 9.5 liters per minute through both ventricles. This high volume of safe blood flow helps speed the recovery of vital organs, helping make the patient a better transplant candidate.

SynCardia Ranked #20 Among World's 50 Most Innovative Companies
In March 2011, Fast Company magazine ranked SynCardia #20 in its annual list of the "World's 50 Most Innovative Companies" for "giving mobility to artificial heart recipients." Weighing 13.5 pounds, SynCardia's Freedom® portable driver is the world's first wearable driver designed to power the Total Artificial Heart both inside and outside the hospital. The Freedom driver is CE approved for use in Europe and undergoing an FDA-approved Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) clinical study in the U.S.

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Media Contact:
Don Isaacs
Vice President of Communications
SynCardia Systems, Inc.
Cell: (520) 955-0660