Image 8: Left ventricular assist device placement.
Left-Ventricular Assist Device (LVDA) In 1984, Dr. Philip Oyer is the first surgeon to successfully implant an LDVA otherwise known as a left-ventricular assist device. The devices purpose is to prolong the life of patients until a donor for heart transplantation becomes available. Unlike the artificial heart, LVDA does not assume all of the heart's functions nor does it involve the removal of the patient's heart, as the name says, its only purpose is to assist the defective ventricles of the heart. Nowadays, there are ventricular assist devices for the right, left or both sides of the ventricles that help maintain blood flow throughout the heart and into the body's blood vessels. In comparison to the 1984 LVDA that packed a 4 pound battery, today it is connected to a power source and monitor, meaning the patient must stay hospitalized until a heart donor is available unless otherwise instructed by the doctor.