Titanium pump helps keeping toddler boy alive for thirteen days

And it is also proving its really worth in the healthcare industry, as an inspiring recent case in Italy reveals.
Doctors in the country have used successfully a pioneering titanium pump to keep a 16-month-old boy's heart beating until a donor could be found for a transplant.
A team at Bambino Gesu hospital in Rome said the operation was carried out last month but not made public until last week.
It is understood the artificial heart, made of titanium material, kept the infant alive for 13 days before he received a real heart.
The tiny titanium pump weighs in at only 11 grams that can handle a blood flow of 1.5 litres a minute. An artificial heart for adults weighs 900 grams.
It is thought it is the first time in the world that an artificial heart of its size has been implanted in a child.
The device needed a special permit for use by the Food and Drug Administration and the Ministry of Health.
The child was suffering from dilated myocardiopathy, a type of heart failure that makes the heart weaker.
"This is a milestone," surgeon Antonio Amodeo told Reuters. He said that for the duration of this case the titanium pump was used as a 'bridge' before the transplant, in future it could be used permanently.
"From a surgical point of view, this was not really difficult. The only difficulty that we met is that the child was operated on several times before," he said.
The story is an excellent illustration of the versatility of titanium material and its use in a plethora of applications.
Its key advantage over other materials is its strength and lightness – it has combined properties of being both light and strong.
It is 45 per cent lighter than steel with similar strength, and twice as strong as aluminium.
Other medical uses for titanium include pins, surgical titanium instruments, orthopaedic rods, pins and plates.