Video interview with O. H. "Bud" Frazier, MD; Chief, Center for Cardiac Support; Director, Cardiovascular Surgery Research; and Co-Director, Cullen Cardiovascular Research Laboratories, at Texas Heart Institute.

The Texas Heart Institute is a world leader in the development, testing and application of heart assist devices. Our goal for the surgical research conducted here is to develop and determine the best assist device to use for each individual patient. Devices may be referred to as mechanical assist devices, ventricular assist devices (VAD), or left ventricular assist devices (LVAD).

The adjacent list describes devices currently in use at THI as well as those of historical interest. 

See the stories of heart assist devices in the news:

•  Researchers Create the First Pulseless Artificial Heart
Dr. Billy Cohn and Dr. Bud Frazier are featured in DISCOVER Magazine, discussing their work on the total artificial heart. See the 80beats blog.  (December 2011)

•  Total Artificial Heart Recipient Home for the Holidays
SynCardia temporary Total Artificial Heart recipient Jeremiah Kliesing was discharged on Nov. 29, after receiving a dual heart and kidney transplant on Nov. 11 at THI. Read his story. (December 2011)  

•  Can Tiny Heart Pump Limit Heart Muscle Damage after STEMI?
Interventional cardiologists affiliated with THI at St. Luke's recently implanted the first two patients in the nation with a tiny heart pump in a feasibility trial to determine the pump's potential to limit damage to heart muscle following a STEMI (ST-elevation myocardial infarction). Read the full news release to learn about the FDA-approved trial and the first enrolled patients. (November 2011)
      


• Miniature Heart Pump: Smaller May Be Better!
Dr. William "Billy" Cohn discusses recent advances in left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) and other mechanical circulatory blood pumps as they get smaller and more adaptable to individual patients. View the video of his presentation at the Pumps & Pipes Conference (15 minutes, December 2010).

• Newest artficial heart beats not
Craig Lewis lay dying in a Texas hospital bed. The 55-year-old was suffering from amyloidosis, a disorder that was destroying his heart. "This man was basically within an hour or two of death," says Billy Cohn, a doctor at Houston's Texas Heart Institute who oversaw Lewis earlier this year. Given Lewis's dire condition, Cohn and veteran artificial heart researcher Bud Frazier received the consent of the man's family to try something that had never been done before: the complete replacement of his heart with two continuous flow ventricular assist devices (VAD). Read the story in the online magazine, MACLEANS.CA. (September 15, 2011) 

 

 
• Video: Artificial hearts giving hope, saving lives. (August 19, 2011)

• 4 Total Artificial Hearts in 12 Days
Life-changing device providing "bridge to transplant" implanted by team led by Dr. Igor Gregoric at THI. "For patients who are out of options, these devices are absolutely critical," said Dr.Gregoric. August 8, 2011

• Heart With No Beat Offers New Lease On Life
Dr. Billy Cohn and Dr. Bud Frazier at the Texas Heart Institute have developed a technique that could replace the heart while avoiding the risks of previous devices. Listen to the story on NPR Morning Edition (June 13, 2011)

• Successful Implantation of a Continuous-Flow Total Artificial Heart 
Doctors at THI (team led by Drs. Bud Frazier and Billy Cohn) successfully implanted the first continuous-flow total artificial heart in a desperately ill patient facing imminent death. (March 23, 2011, read more . . . )

• Device becomes bridge to future for Ally
Allyssa Smith Babineaux goes home from the hospital to continue her recovery from a January heart transplant. Ally became widely known in the national media as "The Bionic Bride" when she was married last summer while implanted with a heart pump to assist her ailing heart. (March 2011 - read more . . . )

• Dr. Billy Cohn on the human heart
From the Houston Chronicle's Eric Berger, an episode in the "11 for '11" series provides insights from THI cardiovascular surgeon, Dr. William Cohn on advances in mechanical circulatory support. (December 25, 2010)

• HeartMate Pump Making Lives Better
Patient with congestive heart failure gets new lease on life with heart assist device. View the video(1 min.) from WXII-TV, in Winston-Salem, South Carolina. (December 15, 2010)

•  Bionic bride's wedding was emotional 'rebirth'
THI patient Ally Smith Babineaux discusses beating the odds with Matt Lauer on the Today Show. (December 1, 2010, Video 6:43 min.)

•  For heart patient, the beat is going strong
Weariness gone, pump brings a year of vigor
Karen King, an LVAD patient, is featured in this Houston Chronicle article. (August 16, 2010)

•  Improved Stroke Prevention Procedure Performed on Patient with Heart-Assist Device
Doctors at THI perform carotid artery stent procedure on patient implanted with an LVAD.(News release August 11, 2010)

•  New Pumping Device Brings Hope for Cheney
Dr. O.H. Frazier is quoted in this article from the New York Times about LVADs and other mechanical pumps. (July 19, 2010) www.nytimes.com/2010/07/20/health/20docs.html

•  Ally, a THI heart failure patient supported by the HeartMate II device, prepares for her wedding. Dr. Roberta Bogaev is also featured. Read the story and view the video at TODAYshow.com. (May 26, 2010)

•  $1.5 million NIH grant awarded
Principal investigators, Drs. Igor Gregoric, Emerson Perin, and Biswajit Kar will lead the study of adult stem cells and heart assist devices as combined therapy for heart failure. (May 5, 2010)

•  New HeartMate II pump is latest bridge to life
Texas Heart Institute's Dr. Roberta Bogaev is quoted in this USA TODAY article. (February 16, 2010)

•  FDA Approves Heart Assist Device for Permanent Treatment of Advanced Heart Failure
The FDA approved a continuous-flow heart-assist device pioneered at the Texas Heart Institute for use as a permanent treatment for advanced heart failure. (News release January 21, 2010)

•  Heart Assist Device benefits 21 year old cardiomyopathy patient
View Fox 26 news interview(5:15 min. video) with cardiologist Stephanie Coulter, MD and heart failure patient Allyssa Smith. (December 2009)

•  $4.1M Grant for Total Artificial Heart Study
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded a $4.1 million grant to THI to determine the effect of pulseless blood flow on bodily functions. (News release August 19, 2009)

•  $2.8 Million Grant to Develop Total Artificial Heart
A National Institutes of Health grant to Texas Heart Institute will fund development of a novel “pulse-less” total artificial heart. (News release June 12, 2008)

•  HeartMate II Approved as Advanced-Stage Heart Failure Treatment Option
THI played a significant role in clinical studies leading to FDA approval of left-ventricular assist device as a bridge-to-transplantation therapy. (News release April 24, 2008)

•  Patient Recovers Heart Function with Mechanical Assist Device
ABC Good Morning America: (6 min. video) Report features the successful removal of an experimental heart assist device that supported Salina Gonzales until she regained function in her failing heart. Drs. Roberta Bogaev and Bud Frazier are featured. (April 2008 and followup May 2009)

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Updated December 2011