Implanted in the patient Barney Clark in 1982, the Jarvik-7 was an artificial what?

In 1982 a Seattle dentist named Barney Clark became the first human recipient of a permanent artificial heart. He survived the heart operation, and the accompanying media circus, for 112 days.

Clark, 61, was the ideal candidate, suffering from congestive heart failure so debilitating that he had trouble walking from his bedroom to the bathroom. Doctors determined that he was too sick to be eligible for a heart transplant, leaving the implant of an artificial heart his only option.

Clark’s predicament coincided with the FDA approving a new artificial heart for human implantation, a device known as the Jarvik-7. It was named for one of its key developers, Dr. Robert Jarvik, who had been building and refining artificial hearts since his student days under artificial-organ pioneer Dr. Willem Kolff at the University of Utah.

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billyboy915

Barbara Jackson, Paul Winchell was the American ventriloquist who performed with his puppet, Jerry Mahoney. Though Dr. Robert Jarvik has been referred to as “the inventor of the artificial heart,” documents from the United States Patent Office show that on February 6, 1961, Paul Winchell filed for a patent on his artificial heart. He was granted a patent (3097366) on July 16, 1963, well before the Jarvik-7 was ever invented

Barbara Jackson

Got it right. As I recall there was a ventriloquist who’s name I can’t remember but appeared on television with his “dummy” who’s name I believe was JERRY Mahoney. Anyway, the ventriloquist had a part in developing the early version of the artificial heart. If anyone remembers his name, I would be happy to be reminded.

Jon Woolery

I remember the matter. I don’t think he ever left the hospital.

lucasmats

I recollect that Doctors Clark, Jarvik, and DeVriers being Americans was a big deal since Dr. Christiaan Barnard was an South African during the time of apartheid. The first heart transplant patient didn't live long neither (18 days) I remember being excited that Paul Winchell, who hadn't been on television much since the sixties, was interviewed about his patent Sadly, I recall that at the press conference about an early local heat transplant, it abruptly ended when a television reporter asked "When can we talk to the donor?"