HI RODNEY, The Good news about TCA is great, for certain (I own TMD), but I wonder if you noticed that the Heart-Assist unit the article was talking about appeared to be the electrically driven unit, as mentioned in the first portion of the article:
28 /PRNewswire/ -- Thermo Cardiosystems Inc.
(AMEX: TCA) announced today that doctors at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical
Center in New York performed a successful heart transplant on Johnny Copeland
on January 1, 1997.
Mr. Copeland, a Grammy Award winning blues musician, was supported by
Thermo Cardiosystems' electric HeartMate. left ventricular-assist device for a
record-setting 607 days while he awaited a suitable donor heart.
You do realize, of course, that the unit approved by the american medical community and insurance companies is only the air-driven unit. If I recall correctly from an article from some time ago (maybe it was VL), the electrically-driven unit was still under developement and/or trials of some kind, and that it would possibly become the preferred unit for the Japanese Market. I assume you remember the potential there since Japan doesn't allow heart transplants. (Someone correct me if I'm wrong, please). Does anyone know what happened to the Japanese market thing; is there an update?
Rodney, I put this post in with this thread because you had mentioned TCA here, and, although once or twice removed, TMO would certainly benefit, as would TMD. In that same article, further down, it does mentioned that the air-driven unit is the only one approved. Could this article have been related to a preliminary trial of the electric unit. This could be bigger than we think, or it could be a misprint. Somebody, help me please!
EDWIN K. |
