Renowned heart surgeon Dr. Denton Cooley is quoted in a recent Associated Press article as saying that "the Jarvik 2000 shows the most promise" among the several ventricular assist devices (VADs) on the market or in development today. This section is devoted to what we believe are some of the particular strengths of the Jarvik 2000 vis à vis other VADs.
The most widely-implanted ventricular assist device today is the HeartMate LVAD made by Thoratec, a medical device manufacturer in Pleasanton, California. Roughly four in five VADs implanted in the U.S. as bridges to transplantation are HeartMates, and they have proven generally effective. In 2002, surgeons implanted over 500 Heartmates.
Large VADs such as the Heartmate do have drawbacks for patients, however, including discomfort caused by the weight and noise of the large device. By contrast, the Jarvik 2000 is small enough to fit inside the left ventricle. With only one moving part, it is also totally silent. In fact, the Jarvik 2000 is less than a tenth of the size and weight of Thoratec's Heartmate.