Community Partnerships
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Community Partnerships |
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"Lead in the innovation of heart failure therapies to improve patient quality of life." In 1984, Dr. Michael DeBakey and Dr. George Noon performed heart transplant surgery on NASA-Johnson Space Center (JSC) engineer David Saucier, following a severe heart attack. Six months later, Saucier returned to JSC with the desire to apply spacecraft technology to help people with diseased hearts. As early as 1987, informal meetings began with NASA engineers and Drs. DeBakey and Noon to discuss the design of a low-cost, low-power, implantable ventricular assist device (VAD). NASA began formal funding of the development of the device four years later, bringing space technology to earth-bound applications. In 1996, MicroMed Cardiovascular, Inc. received an exclusive license from NASA to use this rotary blood pump for cardiovascular applications. MicroMed then began the development of the critical support systems that would allow the device (system) to be approved by regulatory agencies and to be utilized in lifesaving applications in humans. European clinical trials of the MicroMed DeBakey VADŽ began in November 1998 and CE Mark certification was awarded in April 2001. U.S. clinical trials began June 2000 and are on-going. As of December 2006, over 400 patients at 46 heart centers in seven countries have been implanted with the device. Robert Benkowski (CEO) MicroMed Cardiovascular, Inc. Main Number 713.838.9210 |
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