Barney Clark
First heart transplant
Died when: 62 years 61 days (746 months)Star Sign: Aquarius

An artificial heart is a device that replaces the heart.Artificial hearts are typically used to bridge the time to heart transplantation, or to permanently replace the heart in the case that a heart transplant is impossible.
Although other similar inventions preceded it from the late 1940s, the first artificial heart to be successfully implanted in a human was the Jarvik-7 in 1982, designed by a team including Willem Johan Kolff, William DeVries and Robert Jarvik.
An artificial heart is distinct from a ventricular assist device (VAD) designed to support a failing heart.It is also distinct from a cardiopulmonary bypass machine, which is an external device used to provide the functions of both the heart and lungs, used only for a few hours at a time, most commonly during cardiac surgery.