Sheep trial success for Sunshine

A pre-clinical trial in which 26 sheep were implanted with Sunshine Heart's (ASX:SHC) C-Pulse heart-assist device has shown it to be safe and functional, with all animals exhibiting normal arteries 10 months after the devices were implanted.

The C-Pulse device is a cuff which fits around the aorta and inflates and deflates to assist the heart in pumping blood around the body. Examination of the sheep at one, two, five and 10 months showed that the inner layers of the artery were completely normal. Expected minor changes to the tissue of the artery wall were seen in all sheep and signs of tissue repair were evident by 10 months. A low level of infection was also recorded, according to the company.

Dr William Peters, Sunshine Heart's medical director and chief technical officer, will present the results of the preclinical trial today at the Australasian Society of Cardiothoracic Surgeons conference in Noosa. Sunshine Heart is planning to commence a pilot clinical trial of the C-Pulse in patients with moderate to severe heart failure in New Zealand in December.