Nebraska Medicine-Nebraska Medical Center is one of 60 hospitals nationwide taking part in a clinical trial for a new heart pump device.
The device is called the HeartMate 3. It helps the heart pump blood in patients who have advanced heart failure. 1,028 patients are part of the clinical trial nationwide.
Dr. John Um, surgical director of heart transplantation for Nebraska Medical Center, says the second-generation device has improved heart patients’ quality of life, but the clinical trial wants to explore that further.
"The technology is an improvement, so we can speculate that there will be improvements in side effects and in complications. It’s a much smaller pump, and so it’s a little more versatile in the way it can be surgically implanted. It gives us more flexibility in terms of how we put it in."
Dr. Um says the second generation heart device has become accepted for treating end-stage heart failure. The clinical trial is looking in part at whether the device should be used in patients with less severe heart failure.
The clinical trial will last for two years.