Our Mission

WorldHeart is developing the MiFlow™ VAD: a minimally invasive, magnetically levitated miniature rotary blood pump designed to address significant issues of current VADs – including stroke, bleeding, device failures and invasiveness of implantation. VADs are mechanical devices that are surgically implanted to support a patient's own heart by pumping a portion of the cardiac output.

Minaturized MiFlow™ VAD
configuration with percutaneous lead

PediaFlow® VAD

WorldHeart believes that the MiFlow™ VAD is designed not only to be a minimally invasive alternative for providing long-term circulatory support for early-stage heart failure, but also designed to have improved blood-handling characteristics. These critically important clinical attributes may decrease the incidence of both bleeding and clotting complications, two of the most common sources of adverse events in VAD patients which may ultimately position the MiFlow™ VAD favorably among cardiac surgeons.

In conjunction with a consortium consisting of the University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University and Launchpoint Technologies, WorldHeart is developing the PediaFlow® VAD, which is intended for use in pediatric patients.

While the VAD market was $350 million in 2010, it has the potential to expand to $1 billion by 2015 (source: Canaccord Genuity). WorldHeart expects to be a formidable competitor in this developing market.

* Adults and children appearing in photos throughout this website do not have heart failure and have not been implanted with WorldHeart technology. These stock images are included for illustrative purposes only.