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Perth patient receives revolutionary heart assist device

14 / 08 / 2006

Sunshine Heart's unique heart assist pump called C-PulseTM has been successfully implanted in a patient at Royal Perth Hospital in Western Australia.

The C-PulseTM, developed by Australian company Sunshine Heart, improves the heart function of patients with heart failure by increasing blood supply to the heart muscle and reducing the heart's pumping work. It is uniquely designed as a nonblood contacting heart-assist device, reducing the risks of clotting and bleeding complications and making it safe to turn the device on and off.

Professor Gerry O'Driscoll, Principal Investigator and Medical Head of Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Service at the Royal Perth Hospital, said: "The operation went smoothly and this week the patient continues to recover post operatively. We are encouraged with these initial results."

Victor Windeyer, Chief Operating Officer of Sunshine Heart added: "The team at Royal Perth Hospital is very experienced with heart assist devices and we are delighted that they have joined this pilot trial of the C-PulseTM. The clinical program continues to gain momentum and with the addition of Royal Perth Hospital there are now five investigational sites actively screening patients for inclusion into the trial."

This implant is part of a multi-centre trial in Australia and New Zealand involving up to ten patients being conducted at Auckland City Hospital (Auckland), the Alfred Hospital (Melbourne), Southern Health Monash Medical Centre (Melbourne), St Vincent's Hospital (Sydney) and Royal Perth Hospital in Western Australia.