Duke University Delegation Visits NCKU To Foster Partnership For Ventricular Assist Device

TAINAN, Taiwan--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dr. Carmelo Alessio Milano, the Surgical Director for Heart Transplant and LAVD Program, from Duke University School of Medicine, United States, led a delegation to visit National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), Tainan, Taiwan, on December 21 for further collaboration on advancing a new cardiac assist device.

National Cheng Kung University Heart Science and Medical Devices Research Center (NCKU HSMDRC) led by Dr. Pong-Jeu Lu has been collaborating with Duke University School of Medicine for many years on developing the para-aortic blood pump (PABP), a new type of left ventricular assist device.

NCKU Executive Vice President Dr. Tung-Yang Chen on behalf of NCKU President Huey-Jen Jenny Su extended his warm welcome to the delegation and said, “It’s really nice to hear about the progress and funding from the United States.”

“I’m honored to come and work with Dr. Lu,” Milano said to Chen, adding, “Cardiovascular diseases are the most common cause of casualty in my country and mechanical circulatory support is important treatment that is evolving.”

Milano also noted, “Dr. Lu’s device is unique and offer some advantages we believe and we hope to work with him to develop it and advance it to a treatment in our country.”

The Duke team included Milano, Mani Daneshmand, Roberto Manson and Dawn E. Bowles.

With the help from Duke University, we try to make the device better, said Dr. Lu.

“Since we are engineers, we have been working on this for a very long time but we can’t see what surgeons see,” said Lu, a professor of aeronautics and astronautics.

In the evening, the Duke delegation will meet up with the doctors in the NCKU Hospital. In addition, Dr. Daneshmand will speak on cardio transplantation and provide a US prospective on that treatment.

Later, the Duke team and NCKU team will have scheduled implant devices into a calf, animal model, simulating what would be like to place the device to human patient, according to Dr. Lu.

On Dec. 22, Dr. Milano will talk about different types of mechanical support for the circulation that used in the United States the following day, and hopefully provide prospective as to where Dr. Lu’s devise may fit into their treatment.