A 60-year-old Briton, who suffered heart failure but was too ill to survive a transplant, has become the world’s first to get a heart pump powered by portable batteries.
Barry Wade has been allowed to leave hospital and live at home after tiny three-inch titanium heart pump — HeartMate II — was fitted in him, The Sun reported.
The pump is charged by two portable batteries the patient carries in a shoulder bag.
Heart pumps normally need power from the mains. But this is a new portable version, attached to the heart by tubes. It was developed in the US.
Wade had the pump fitted at the University Hospital of South Manchester.
“I have a new chance of life and I am looking forward to the birth of my new grandson next month. I feel privileged to pioneer this device,” said Wade, a resident of Macclesfield, Cheshire, and a father of four.
