The artificial heart is an extra pumping chamber that can pump blood throughout the body. The heart is a muscular pump that maintains oxygen and blood circulation through the lungs and body. Our heart pumps about 2,000 gallons of blood throughout the day. An adult’s heart pumps blood at a rate of 60 to 100 beats per minute. The heart has two stages, in the first stage the left and right Atria contract at the same time pumping blood through the left and right ventricle.
In the second stage the ventricles contract together to push blood out of the heart. If your heart is weak and can’t pump enough blood around your body to keep it working, you might need an artificial heart. An artificial heart provides an extra ventricle to help to pump blood around your body that is called ventricular assist device. A ventricular assist device is made from metal and plastic, and has a small pumping chamber made by a special material that stops blood clots forming. It may be put into your body or lie outside your body, but it depends on what artificial heart is being used.
The “VAD” is connected in many ways, it depends on which side of the heart needs support, your right or left. If the heart needs support on the left side, it is attached to the left atrium and the aorta. If the heart needs support on the right side, it is attached to the right atrium and pulmonary artery. If the heart needs support on both sides of your heart, it is attached in both of the above ways.