A medical breakthrough has unfolded at St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney, where a patient has become the first in the world to be discharged from hospital with a BiVACOR Total Artificial Heart. The device, implanted in a six-hour procedure on 22 November 2024, kept the man alive until he received a donor heart transplant on 6 March 2025. At 105 days, it marks the longest recorded period a patient has relied on the device before a transplant.
The operation, led by cardiothoracic and transplant surgeon Dr Paul Jansz, was part of the Monash University-led Artificial Heart Frontiers Program, backed by a $50 million Australian Government grant. The aim is to offer long-term survival options for patients awaiting transplants—and eventually, to make the artificial heart a permanent solution.
Dr Daniel Timms, the Queensland-born inventor of the BiVACOR Total Artificial Heart, called the success of the Australian trial a personal milestone. “Being able to bring Australia along this journey and be part of the first clinical trials is immensely important to me,” he said. “It is incredibly rewarding to see our device deliver extended support to the first Australian patient.”
St Vincent’s cardiologist Professor Chris Hayward believes the device could reshape transplant medicine. “This ushers in a whole new ball game. Within the next decade, we’ll see artificial hearts as a primary alternative when donor hearts aren’t available,” he said.
St Vincent’s Hospital has a legacy of firsts in cardiac care. The hospital carried out Australia’s first heart transplant in 1968, played a key role in the National Heart Transplant Program in 1984, and pioneered ‘heart in a box’ technology in 2014. Dr Jansz said it was a privilege to add another milestone. “Heart failure kills almost 5,000 Australians every year. We’ve worked towards this moment for years, and we’re enormously proud to have been the first team in Australia to carry out this procedure,” he said.
Monash University Vice-Chancellor Professor Sharon Pickering highlighted the collaboration behind the project. “This achievement is a testament to what happens when universities, industry and government work together,” she said. “It’s a triumph of science and a source of hope for patients and families.”
The BiVACOR Total Artificial Heart was first implanted at the Texas Heart Institute in July 2024, with four more procedures following in the US. The Australian success marks the first case outside the US and the sixth worldwide. With further trials planned, the hope is that artificial hearts will one day replace the need for transplants altogether.
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