Dr. Kolff was a pioneering inventor in the field of artificial organs and even though Dr. Jarvik was credited with the fully implantable heart Kolff did much of the preliminary advancements in this technology . This important and historical piece (patent 4,427,470) was several things. For one it was a new way of manufacturing a ventricular assist device with a novel molding process that would reduce thrombosis due to its smooth and seamless design that prevented this problematic condition.

This manufacturing device was one innovation but it also could be used as an Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD) and or Right Ventricular Assist Device (RVAD) or if two were employed a Total Artificial Heart (TAH).

This is an early version of the Jarvik so to speak since this device is the predecessor to it and if you look at it you can see many of the similar concepts were employed with the development of the Jarvik.

I was fortunate to have made contact with a thoracic surgeon that had several of these early examples in his laboratory— and I was able to get a few of these historic pieces. Quite an extraordinary device that allows me to continue to document the lineage of these biomedical advancements.

The device is tagged with two labels one bearing Cardiac Systems Inc. along with the US patent number. Cardiac Systems was one of the companies that was influenced by Dr.Kolff’s inventions and helped bring his artificial heart devices and cardiovascular innovations to patients in need.

I suggest reading further via the patent application for a full overview of this historically significant device via this link here: Dr.Kolff Patent Application 4,427,470