EADS and Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) held several rounds of discussions and are waiting for the nod of top government authorities to go ahead for the clinical trial, sources revealed to The Peninsula.
Biomedical firm Carmat, a start-up funded by the EADS - the parent company of passenger jet maker Airbus - after its 15-year-secret-project had come out with the vastly improved artificial human heart in October last year claiming that the new device could represent a major breakthrough for millions of people around the world who suffer from cardiovascular diseases, of whom more than 10 million die every year. “We are on the verge of starting clinical trials; and pending the approval of French and Qatari medical authorities, the artificial heart could be implanted in the first human patient within three years,” said Mohamed S Al Kuwari, General Manager EADS Competence Centre of Qatar (CCQ), a partner company of QSTP.
“The HMC is very much interested in the project. We held several rounds of discussions with the HMC experts. There has to be more research ahead of the clinical trial. We are waiting for the final nod for the trial from higher authorities,” Al Kuwari told this newspaper over phone from Germany.
“The project is part of the recently launched EADS Competence Centre of Qatar at QSTP. The CCQ is very optimistic about Qatar becoming the first country to implant an artificial human heart in the region. The Emir H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani and H H Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al Missned made very encouraging comments when they visited the CCQ on the inaugural day of QSTP,” he said.
Earlier, talking to The Peninsula, a top Carmat official from France said a team of 30 experts are working on the project. “We have successfully completed the clinical trial among animals. If everything goes well Hamad will perform the first artificial human heart transplantation by 2011”.
On the newly-developed heart’s advantages over its earlier versions, he said, it employs two internal pumps to move blood to the lungs and into the body, rather than the single pump typical of earlier designs.
The new design also uses cutting-edge biopolymer material that promise to reduce the formation of dangerous blood clots — a persistent problem with early artificial hearts — and may even spare patients from needing to use nettlesome anticoagulant drugs.
Feedback sensors and software can adjust the heart’s speed and pressure depending on the exertion level of the wearer, permitting a vastly greater range of physical activity.
The immediate goal is to develop about 20 artificial hearts that can be implanted into patients over the next two years. At first, the devices will be given only to people who would otherwise die.
The cost of Carmat heart is expected to be slightly less than a human heart transplant, which averages about $250,000 in the US and an additional $20,000 per year in a follow-up treatment.
EADS is a global leader in aerospace, defence and related services. It is the first international company to participate in the expansion of QSTP by operating its Competence Centre in the science park.
No comments:
Post a Comment