Dualis MedTech, ReliantHeart Partner For the HeartAssist5 LVAD

ReliantHeart Inc., a supplier of advanced mechanical circulatory assist technologies, and Dualis MedTech GmbH, a provider of wireless energy and charging technology, have partnered to implement a wireless, Transcutaneous Energy Transfer system (TET) exclusively for the HeartAssist5 Ventricular Assist Device.

Dualis has agreed to integrate its wireless energy transfer technology MedBase with the HeartAssist5 VAD. ReliantHeart’s HeartAssist5 (HA5) is the most energy efficient Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD) available, according to the company.

In its new configuration, the HA5 will draw less than half of the energy of any other full flow LVAD. ReliantHeart refers to this energy efficient pump as being forward compatible with future product introduction, including the wireless Transcutaneous Energy Transfer system (TET).

Dualis is part of a forward compatibility team formed by ReliantHeart to cooperate on an assembly of technologies intended to reduce adverse events associated with LVADs. The team includes several other companies: Lynium LLC, Kollmorgen, Device Solutions Inc., Transonic, Revel Systems, Numerex Corp., Cathtek Inc., and Yarborough Electronics Sales Inc.

Dualis was formed from the German Centre for Aeronautics and Aerospace, and now implements its technologies for the medical device industry. ReliantHeart’s ventricular pump was developed with NASA technology and was awarded the NASA Invention of the Year.

“Our partnership is more than just collaboration, it is a crusade to reduce adverse events in the LVAD field. Our mission is to compress time and accelerate beneficial outcomes. Artificial heart pumps need power but running wires through the skin leads to infection and patient discomfort. The solution is to invent a device to transfer power without wires,”  ReliantHeart CEO Rodger Ford said.

Dualis MedBase technology will provide this solution by using magnetic coils to transfer power from outside to inside the body with no wires that penetrate the body. While it sounds like science fiction, the technology will be available in 2016. Patients with a ReliantHeart HA5 will be able to upgrade to the wireless system without exchanging the pump, thereby eliminating driveline infection. “Patients will be able to enjoy the physical and social activities that are limitless without a wire,” Ford noted.

Dualis MedTech GmbH started research and development of the MedBase technology in 2006 and has since gained a lead in wireless power technology, conducting successful animal trials. “The internal coil is about 2 inches in diameter and will communicate with an internal battery and power management much like a pacemaker system. The patient will be wireless,” Dualis CEO Stephan Sagolla said.

Based in Houston, Texas, ReliantHeart develops and manufactures the HeartAssist5 Ventricular Assist device. Its technology originally was inspired by NASA, the Johnson Space Center and Baylor School of Medicine.

Dualis MedTech GmbH is a development service provider that supports customers from the idea stage right through to the certification of tailor-made systems and products. As a spin-off of the Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR e. V., German Centre for Aeronautics and Aerospace), the company has transferred technology used in aeronautics and applied it to medical technology and also provide services to other sectors such as the automotive supply industry, consumer electronics and machine and plant construction.

Dualis offers manufacturers of medical devices and active implants a package for the production, integration, and adjustment of MedBase to their proprietary products. Dualis complies with the extremely demanding regulatory requirements for medical devices.