Pumps

A ventricular assist device, or VAD, is a mechanical device that is used to partially or completely replace the function of a failing heart. Some VAD’s are intended for short term use, typically for patients recovering from heart attacks or heart surgery, while others are intended for long term use (months to years and in some cases for life), typically for patients suffering from congestive heart failure.

Heart pumps pump blood through the body continuously, rather than with the periodic beat of the normal heart.

Pumps that work on this principle, known as continuous flow pumps, are already in clinical use as part of "ventricular assist devices," which are implanted into patients with some remaining heart function to help circulate blood through the body. (Artificial hearts replace the heart entirely.)