News Coverage

Man Uses Portable Driver to Power Artificial Heart

The Lawton Constitution

Dec. 19, 2010

One week ago, William "Bill" Haley became just the third person in the nation to leave a hospital using a portable driver to power his Total Artificial Heart. Haley, who has moved from Kansas, Okla., to Lawton to await a heart transplant, is part of a clinical study by SynCardia, which makes the Total Artificial Heart and the portable Freedom Driver that allows him to escape the confines of the hospital. As a part of the trial, 30 patients must be discharged from a hospital using the portable device. After being discharged, patients are then followed until transplant, death or 90 days of Freedom driver support.... read more

This Pastor Really Has A Heart (An Artificial One!)

K-LOVE Radio - a non-profit, listener-supported, nationally syndicated Christian radio station broadcast in 46 states on more than 400 frequencies. 

Dec. 15, 2010

Think about your heart. It just keeps ticking. But when something goes wrong, it's serious. An Oklahoma pastor is now home from the hospital after receiving a Total Artificial Heart.

Because of a medical condition from birth, Troy Golden began to have issues with his heart. For nearly 10 years, he was in and out of the hospital as doctors tried to patch together his heart.

"Time and time again doctors would basically tell me that there was no hope" ... listen to story

CAUTION - The Freedom driver system is undergoing an FDA-approved Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) clinical study in the U.S. The IDE clinical study is designed to demonstrate that the Freedom driver is a suitable pneumatic driver for stable Total Artificial Heart patients and that it can be safely used at home.

Miracle Man: Total Artificial Heart Recipient Greg Michels

Magic City Magazine

Dec. 14, 2010

Greg Michels was a loving husband and devoted father until the day he died... weeks later he got a second chance.

I first met Greg Michels at swim team practice in the winter of 2009.  His unkempt appearance – disheveled hair, a slow, tired gait and dark, sunken eyes – made me assume he had just finished a 12-hour night shift at the hospital or refinery. I could not have been more wrong... read more

Oklahoma Pastor Gives 1st Sermon Since Receiving
SynCardia's Total Artificial Heart

INTEGRIS Baptist Medical Center

Nov. 22, 2010

CAUTION - The Freedom® driver system is undergoing an FDA-approved Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) clinical study in the U.S. The IDE clinical study is designed to demonstrate that the Freedom driver is a suitable pneumatic driver for stable Total Artificial Heart patients and that it can be safely used at home. Through the IDE clinical study, stable Total Artificial Heart patients who meet study criteria may have the option to be discharged from the hospital using the Freedom portable driver, to wait for their matching donor heart at home and in their communities.

KOCO (ABC) Oklahoma City
A local minister said he has much to be thankful for this holiday season. Troy Golden's life changed literally in a heartbeat. A minister at New Life Assembly of God in Geary, Golden became the first person in Oklahoma to get an artificial heart. Golden said he now stands, sings and prays with all his artificial heart. It had been six months since he gave his last sermon. Golden has suffered from a tissue disorder his entire life. It's led to two heart surgeries and, now a total artificial heart implant... watch video/read article

KWTV (CBS) Oklahoma City
A Geary pastor is only the second person in the country to leave a hospital with a portable device that powers his artificial heart, and on Sunday he took center stage to give his first sermon since being hospitalized earlier this year... read article

This story also aired on the following TV stations:
•KTUL (ABC) Tulsa, OK
•KOTV (CBS) Tulsa, OK
•KNOE (CBS) Monroe, LA
•KOAM (CBS) Joplin, MO
•KFSM (CBS) Ft. Smith, AR
•KSFX (FOX) Springfield, MO

Arizona-Based Firm Certifying Artificial Heart

Associated Press

Oct. 29, 2010

An artificial heart designed, built and manufactured in Tucson is undergoing certification at two more U.S. Hospitals. SynCardia Systems is currently in the process of certifying Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital and University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics to implant the SynCardia temporary Total Artificial Heart... read more

UIHC Undergoing Certification to Use New Artificial Heart

Eastern Iowa Health

Oct. 28, 2010

A new artificial heart device will allow patients of University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics to await a heart transplant at home. The Iowa City hospital could start using the new SynCardia temporary Total Artificial Heart by the end of the year, said Dr. James Davis, division director of cardiac services... read more

2nd Total Artificial Heart Patient in U.S. History
Discharged from the Hospital Using the Freedom® Portable Driver

INTEGRIS Baptist Medical Center

Oct. 26, 2010

CAUTION - The Freedom® driver system is undergoing an FDA-approved Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) clinical study in the U.S. The IDE clinical study is designed to demonstrate that the Freedom driver is a suitable pneumatic driver for stable Total Artificial Heart patients and that it can be safely used at home. Through the IDE clinical study, stable Total Artificial Heart patients who meet study criteria may have the option to be discharged from the hospital using the Freedom portable driver, to wait for their matching donor heart at home and in their communities

The Oklahoman
As a pastor, Troy Golden preaches of miracles and resurrection. As a patient, Golden lived a near-miracle and resurrection as he left the hospital without a real heart... see article/video

KFOR (NBC) Oklahoma City
A few weeks ago we introduced you to an Oklahoma man living with a completely artificial heart. Monday, that man became a part of heart history when he walked out of a metro hospital, as the first in Oklahoma and only the second in the country, to ever leave the hospital with a "Total Artificial Heart." We first met Troy Golden at the end of September as he prepared for this day... see article/video

KOCO (ABC) Oklahoma City
A man who received an artificial heart through surgery is back and home and doing well, he said. Troy Golden, 45, walked out of Intergris Hospital Monday morning and began adjusting to life outside the watch of doctors... see article/video

KSBI 52 Oklahoma City
After three months at the hospital and endless medical procedures, artificial heart patient Troy Golden was able to go home. On Monday, Golden, his family members and doctors shared their take on the amazing journey. Just moments later, Golden was able to leave the hospital and return home with the portable device that powers his artificial heart... see article/video

KWTV (CBS) Oklahoma City
An Oklahoma man became only the second patient in the country to leave the hospital using a portable driver to power his artificial heart. Troy Golden, a pastor from Geary, left Integris Baptist Medical Center Monday morning. Surgeons removed the 45-year-old's heart in September and replaced it with a Total Artificial Heart... see article

This story also aired on the following TV stations:
•KOKH (FOX) Oklahoma City, OK
•KOKI (FOX) Tulsa, OK
•KOTV (CBS) Tulsa, OK
•KFSM (CBS) Ft. Smith, AR
•KFVS (CBS) Paducah, KY
•WAFB (CBS) Baton Rouge, LA
•WTVC (ABC) Chattanooga, TN
•KERO (ABC) Bakersfield, CA
•WTVM (ABC) Columbus, GA
•XETV (CW) San Diego, CA
•WLBZ (NBC) Bangor, ME
•WCSH (NBC) Portland, ME
•KHQ (NBC) Spokane, WA

Oklahoma Man 1st in Region to Receive Total Artificial Heart

INTEGRIS Baptist Medical Center

Sept. 29, 2010

CAUTION - The Freedom® driver system is undergoing an FDA-approved Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) clinical study in the U.S. The IDE clinical study is designed to demonstrate that the Freedom driver is a suitable pneumatic driver for stable Total Artificial Heart patients and that it can be safely used at home. Through the IDE clinical study, stable Total Artificial Heart patients who meet study criteria may have the option to be discharged from the hospital using the Freedom portable driver, to wait for their matching donor heart at home and in their communities.

KWTV (CBS) Oklahoma City
A Geary man has something no other person in Oklahoma has and it's keeping him alive. Doctors at INTEGRIS Baptist Medical Center have removed the man's heart, and replaced it with an artificial heart... read article | watch video

KSBI 52 Oklahoma City
An Oklahoma man recently received a Total Artificial Heart at a local hospital in Oklahoma City. Troy Golden, 45, of Geary, OK became the first person in the region to receive the SynCardia Total Artificial Heart. The six hour surgery took place at Integris Baptist Medical Center on Sept. 15th... watch video

This story also aired on the following TV stations:
• KOCO (ABC) Oklahoma City, OK
• KHGI (ABC) Lincoln, NE
• KFOR (NBC) Oklahoma City, OK
• WCYB (NBC) Tri-Cities, VA
• KWGN (CW) Denver, CO
• KOKH (FOX) Oklahoma City, OK
• KOKI (FOX) Tulsa, OK
• WTTG (FOX) Washington, DC
• WOFL (FOX) Orlando, FL
• WOGX (FOX) Gainesville, FL
• WFTX (FOX) Ft. Myers, FL
• KRIV (FOX) Houston, TX
• WZDX (FOX) Huntsville, AL
• WEMT (FOX) Tri-Cities, VA
• KXRM (FOX) Colorado Springs, CO
• KDVR (FOX) Denver, CO
• KFQX (FOX) Grand Junction, CO
• WSFX (FOX) Wilmington, NC
• WHBQ (FOX) Memphis, TN
• WSJV (FOX) South Bend, IN
• KTVL (CBS) Medford, OR
• KOTV (CBS) Tulsa, OK
• KMEG (CBS) Sioux City, IA
• KNOE (CBS) Monroe, LA
• WTVR (CBS) Richmond, VA
• WRBL (CBS) Columbus, GA
• KFSM (CBS) Ft. Smith, AR

Print:
• The Oklahoman
• Enid News
• The Daily Citizen
• Edmond Sun

Radio:
• KTST-FM 101.9
• NewsRadio 1000 KTOK
• 96.1 KXY
• News Talk 1520 KOKC

The Ultimate Bypass

60 Minutes Australia

Sept. 26, 2010

It's a terrible irony. Heart disease is Australia's biggest killer, yet we have one of the lowest organ donation rates in the world. The wait for a transplant can be agonizingly long, often it's fatal. But there's been some remarkable progress in recent times. Doctors can now keep their patients alive for months, even years, by hooking them up to artificial pumps. It's amazing stuff and that's just the start. At 35, Wayne Griffin's heart is failing and there's no hope it will ever recover. Now, he has to explain to his 9-year-old daughter Ebony how he's going to survive without it... read more

Bridge for a Broken Heart

Medical Observer (Australia)

Sept. 21, 2010

Dr. Phillip Spratt knows hearts. He was part of the team that made history in 1984 by performing a heart transplant on Australia's youngest and first female recipient, an operation that saved the life of the now 40-year-old Fiona Coote. Now the head of the heart and lung transplant unit at Sydney's St Vincent's Hospital has done it again, leading the team that performed the first mechanical 'total' heart transplant in the Southern Hemisphere... read more (Note: Article may only be accessed once before viewer is prompted to register or sign-in)

MCV Brings Freedom to Transplant Patients

The Commonwealth Times

Sept. 20, 2010

Currently when patients who need a heart transplant are fitted with an artificial heart (a replacement of the lower two chambers of the heart), they are forced to reside in the hospital for months. Cardiologists at VCU's Pauley Heart Center, along with SynCardia Systems, Inc., are looking to change that. Recently, SynCardia has developed an alternative to its original artificial heart power source, Big Blue. The alternative is a small device known as Freedom, which will enable patients with artificial hearts to wait for a transplant from their home... read more

Note: Dr. Vigneshwar Kasirajan is the principal investigator for the FDA Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) clinical study of the Freedom® portable driver designed to power the SynCardia temporary Total Artificial Heart both inside and outside the hospital. Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Medical Center is one of up to 30 institutions approved to participate in the IDE clinical study of the Freedom driver involving 60 patients. Since this interview, VCU Medical Center has received Freedom drivers and has completed Phase IV of SynCardia Certification on use of the Freedom driver.

VCU Studies Portable Power for Artificial Heart

Richmond Times-Dispatch

Sept. 10, 2010

Researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center are testing a briefcase-size power and monitoring device that allows patients with a temporary artificial heart to wait at home for a heart transplant... read more

Study Underway to Evaluate New Driver Designed to Provide
Total Artificial Heart Patients with the Ability to Live at Home

HealthNewsDigest

Sept. 7, 2010

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in the U.S. for both men and women, with an estimated 80,000,000 (one in three)1 adults having one or more types of CVD. Approximately 5,700,0001 people currently suffer from heart failure and 670,000 new cases are diagnosed annually.

Of the nearly 300,000 annual deaths in the U.S. attributed to heart failure, it is estimated that up to 100,000 people could benefit from mechanical circulatory support devices, which are surgically implanted mechanical pumps that provide blood flow to supplement or replace the blood flow normally generated by the native heart. When patients progress to end-stage biventricular failure, where both sides of the heart fail to pump enough blood to sustain the body, vital organs like the kidneys, lungs, liver and brain are starved of oxygen and nutrients, and start to shut down. For transplant-eligible patients suffering from end-stage biventricular failure, there are two treatment options: an immediate donor heart transplant or a mechanical circulatory support device to serve as a "bridge to transplant"... read more

Man Gets Australia's First Artificial Heart Implant

Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC News)

Aug. 16, 2010

Sydney's St Vincent's Hospital says it has recently performed the Southern Hemisphere's first total artificial heart implant. Angelo Tigano, 50, from Fairfield in Sydney's west, was suffering from total heart failure after having idiopathic cardiomyopathy for more than 10 years. He was selected to have the implant because without it he may have had less than two weeks to live... read more

Artificial Heart a Medical Marvel

Fairfield City Champion

Aug. 16, 2010

A Fairfield resident has been given a new chance at life - and a new heartbeat. Angelo Tigarno, 55, is pale, bone-thin and weak from hours of surgery and years of suffering. But the Fairfield man is alive - something he didn't expect two weeks ago... read more

Artificial Heart-Beat is a Winner for Angelo Tigano

The Daily Telegraph

Aug. 16, 2010

Angelo Tigano is living proof that cutting out a man's heart can't kill his love for his mum's cooking. Given just two weeks to live, the 50-year-old heart failure victim agreed to let doctors swap his dying heart for a mechanical one... read more

Heart Transplant Milestone

Taranaki Daily News

Aug. 16, 2010

The southern hemisphere's first total artificial heart transplant operation has been performed in a Sydney hospital. The recipient, 50-year-old Fairfield man Angelo Tigano, recently had his failing heart removed in a five-hour operation and it was replaced with a mechanical device... read more

Living Without a Heart

Fairfield Advance

Aug. 16, 2010

Heartless has a whole new meaning for Angelo Tigano. Mr Tigano, of Fairfield, underwent a total artificial heart transplant at St Vincent’s Hospital 10 days ago. In an Australian first, heart surgeons Phillip Spratt and Paul Jansz replaced the 50-year-old’s heart with an electronic pump system to buy him time while he waits for a donor heart... read more

Sydney Man Gets First Heart Transplant at St Vincent's Hospital

News.com.au

Aug. 16, 2010

Angelo Tigano is living proof you can remove a man's heart and he'll still love his mum's cooking. The 50-year-old from the Sydney suburb of Fairfield had surgery 10 days ago to implant a mechanical heart, making him the southern hemisphere's first recipient of the breakthrough technology... read more

Fake Heart Transplant a First

Yahoo! 7 News

Aug. 16, 2010

Mr Tigano underwent five hours of surgery, during which his own heart was removed and replaced with a mechanical device. It mimics the function of both the left and right heart ventricles, which are responsible for pumping blood. The device is said to provide up to 9.5 litres of bloodflow throughout the body per minute. The hospital says the 50-year-old should now be able to live a relatively normal life until a heart transplant becomes available...

Watch Video 1 | Video 2

Sydney Man Gets First Heart Transplant at St Vincent's Hospital

Adelaide Now

Aug. 16, 2010

A Sydney man has become the country's first person to have an artificial heart implanted. Doctors gave Angelo Tigano only two weeks to live at the start of this month. The 50-year-old was suffering from total heart failure, cardiomyopathy, and was unable to lift his head off his pillow without losing breath. Last week surgeons at St Vincent's Hospital, in Darlinghurst, cut out his heart and replaced it with an artificial one during a five-hour operation... read more

A Change of Heart: Portable Power Source Lets Cardiac Patients
Await a Permanent Donor at Home

Scientific American

July 13, 2010

They say home is where the heart is, but until recently patients who had suffered biventricular failure could survive only with the help of an artificial heart tethered to large, immobile driver system to maintain blood circulation while they awaited a heart transplant.

This could be changing; artificial heart–maker SynCardia Systems, Inc., in Tucson, Ariz., last month announced that three patients surgically implanted with the company's technology have been able to walk out of their respective hospitals and wait for donated replacement hearts in the comfort of their own homes... read more

Artificial Heart Pioneer Jack Copeland Leaving UA

Phoenix Business Journal

June 29, 2010

Dr. Jack Copeland, who performed Arizona’s first heart transplant in 1979, has resigned from University of Arizona’s College of Medicine to join the faculty at the new $227 million Sulpizio Family Cardiovascular Center at the University of California in San Diego. Read more: Artificial heart pioneer Jack Copeland leaving UA - Phoenix Business Journal... read more

New Drive Unit Makes Artificial Heart More Practical

Diagnostic & Invasive Cardiology

June 21, 2010

By: Keyur B. Shah, M.D.; Daniel P. Tang, M.D.; Michael Hess, M.D; and Vigneshwar Kasirajan, M.D. Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Va., Advanced Heart Failure and Mechanical Circulatory Support Program

The practicality and expense of maintaining patients on total artificial hearts (TAH) may be significantly impacted with the introduction of a new, investigational portable driver unit. The 13-pound unit driver is intended to replace the previous 418-pound driver, which will allow eligible patients to be discharged to wait for a transplant heart at home, rather than in a hospital.

The Challenge
The rapidly increasing burden of patients with advanced heart failure has fueled the growing field of mechanical circulatory support. After remarkable progress over the last several decades... read more

Patient Bridged to Transplant with Total Artificial Heart
Discusses Organ Donation

KGUN 9 – Tucson Morning Blend

May 28, 2010

Former Total Artificial Heart patient Vanessa Cirillo, who was successfully bridged to a donor heart transplant in 2007, discusses organ donation and her transplant experience as a representative of the Donor Network of Arizona... watch video

Enter the Bionic Era

Conozca Más

May 2010

Conozca Más (Learn More) is a monthly Spanish magazine that focuses on science and culture. The 15-year-old publication has a circulation of 90,000, reaching affluent and educated readers in Mexico, Chile, Argentina, Costa Rica and Bolivia. The May cover story titled “Enter the Bionic Era,” features technology that may substitute for human organs, including the SynCardia temporary Total Artificial Heart... Read original article in Spanish | Read English translation

National Public Radio Interviews Dr. Marvin Slepian
About Total Artificial Heart and Freedom™ Driver

KJZZ 91.5 FM Phoenix

Mar. 22, 2010

Hundreds of Arizonans die every year due to heart failure and finding the right heart takes time while on the donor list. Dr. Marvin Slepian, Chairman of Tucson-based SynCardia Systems and head of the Tissue Engineering Lab at the University of Arizona visited with KJZZ's Morning Edition Host Dennis Lambert to talk about this bridge to transplant and the continued strides of the Total Artificial Heart... listen to the interview

SynCardia, Bimba Manufacturing, and Smart Products
Work to Improve the Quality of Life for Total Artificial Heart Patients

Smart Talk

March 2010

SynCardia is working with Bimba Manufacturing and Smart Products to develop the new Freedom® driver system, which is designed to allow stable Total Artificial Heart patients to leave the hospital to wait at home for a matching donor heart... read more

A Rare Gift

FOX 43 Harrisburg

Feb. 3, 2010

Larry and Stacey Eidell are practically newlyweds. Having only been married for three years, they would’ve never guessed the road ahead, especially because Larry was a relatively healthy individual... until last October when he had a massive heart attack that destroyed his heart. Had it not been for the SynCardia temporary CardioWest™ Total Artificial Heart, doctors at Penn State Hershey Medical Center say Larry would not be here to tell his story... watch video