Each year, over 1,000 children under the age of 10 die from perioperative ventricular failure, progressive cardiomyopathy, or complications following cardiac transplantation. Yet ventricular assist device (VAD) support has been rare for these innocent lives. Currently, the only option for infants with congenital heart disease is extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, a bulky device which suffers from high complication and poor survival rates.
But help is on the way. A consortium has formed to develop a centrifugal VAD support system which provides left, right or biventricular assistance for infants for up to six months. Designed for children up to 2 years old, PediaFlow uses a magnetically-levitated impeller that increases the pump's life span, provides better flow rates and drastically reduces blood damage.
PediaFlow is built upon existing technology from the Medquest Heartquest VAD, a revolutionary next-generation VAD.