Maybe this is the first time this technology has been used in an artificial heart, but "maglev" pumps are not new --- they've been around for at least a few dec

Maybe this is the first time this technology has been used in an artificial heart, but "maglev" pumps are not new --- they've been around for at least a few decades. It's known as "wet rotor bearingless" in existing literature, and they are found in numerous white goods such as dishwashers, washing machines, HVAC systems, as well as aquariums and computer water cooling. Usually the drive electronics are the failure point. Here's an article from 2002 about this type of pump: http://www.mech.ibaraki.ac.jp/~ismb8/pocpdf/0001.pdf http://www.mech.ibaraki.ac.jp/~ismb8/pocpdf/0001.pdf