A medical device manufacturer has stopped the production and use of a heart pump device following the death of a patient.<\/p>\n
Abbott Laboratories, an American-based worldwide healthcare company, has halted the use of the HeartMate PHP catheter following a patient death and several malfunctions in the U.S. and in Europe.<\/p>\n
The device was initially thought to be commercially promising, but the problems identified are serious.
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The medical device was praised by both medical manufacturers, St. Jude and Abbott Laboratories, as a device that was in advanced clinical testing.<\/p>\n
The blood pump consists of a propeller inside a thin wire cage that is inserted in the heart to keep blood flowing at a predictable rate for up to 6 hours when patients are undergoing high-risk surgery to unblock clogged blood vessels. The advantage of such a device is to allow doctors\/surgeons to place the device in the heart without needing to perform open-heart surgery.<\/p>\n