EPO – Finalist 2016 Lifetime Achievement – Implantable artificial heart, Alain Carpentier
Alain Carpentier (France)
Invention: Implantable artificial heart
Alain Carpentier, perhaps the world’s most renowned cardiologist, not only pioneered novel methods for repairing faulty hearts, he found a way to replace them. The 82-year-old French heart surgeon invented the Carmat heart, the world’s first fully implantable, self-regulating heart. Unlike similar prosthetics, Carpentier’s device mimics the heart’s natural physiology, adjusting the volume of blood it pumps depending on whether its recipient is active or resting.