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UNT Health Science Center Licenses Cardiac Assist Device

Researchers at the University of North Texas Health Science Center have developed a new tool for heart surgeons and cardiologists that potentially will support circulation following heart surgery or heart attacks better than today’s devices.

The “Enhanced Intra-Aortic Balloon Assist Device” is specifically designed to maintain the aortic blood pressure at an adequate level by overcoming limitations of current devices. The U.S. Patent Office approved the device February 20, 2001.

UNT Health Science Center has licensed exclusive worldwide rights to the device to Cardiac Surgical Devices, Inc., a privately held start-up company based in Irvine, California. In exchange, the health science center has acquired 20 percent of the company’s outstanding stock.

Currently, cardiologists or cardiac surgeons use regular intra-aortic balloon assist devices to reduce the heart’s workload and improve blood flow to a patient’s heart, brain, and other vital organs. These balloon pumps may not provide adequate circulatory support for patients with severely diseased or injured hearts.

Coronary researcher Fred Downey, Ph.D., and cardiac surgeon Xiaoming Bian, M.D., Ph.D., of the health science center’s Cardiovascular Research Institute, invented the Enhanced Intra-aortic Balloon Assist Device to improve blood flow and provide circulatory support when pressures fall below those required by currently available devices. The device adds an external pumping module that works in series with an internal pump in cases where conventional balloon pumps are unable to maintain adequate blood flow.

“This device has the potential to provide additional support for patients with failing hearts,” said Dr. Downey, who has studied coronary circulation for over 30 years. “Results from our initial prototype testing and simulation studies have been very promising.”

Further, Dr. Downey anticipates the device will be specified for most conditions that require circulatory support, so that its reserve pumping capacity will be available, even if the patient’s aortic blood pressure is initially high enough to use a regular device.

The University of North Texas Health Science Center is composed of the Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine, the School of Public Health, and the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. The center’s six Institutes for Discovery conduct leading-edge research on select health issues, including aging, cancer, and heart disease.


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