What Are Some Mechanical Devices That Are Used To Improve Pumping Actions?

A growing array of heart devices and machines are changing the face of heart failure treatment. They have gained widespread acceptance for use as a bridge to transplant in patients who are on medications but still have severe symptoms and are awaiting a donor heart.

Increasingly, though, doctors are exploring the possibility that such devices may be satisfactory treatments themselves, forestalling the need for a transplant altogether in some patients. These devices include the intra-aortic balloon pump, the left ventricular assist de-vice, and the artificial heart.