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The world's smallest artificial heart pump was successfully implanted in a 50-year-old women in late July, a German hospital announced Monday.
The three-ounce plastic and titanium pump is touted as being more effective and unobtrusive than earlier devices, Agence France Presse reported. The pump is the fifth generation of the so-called DeBakey Heart pump.
"It can fully replace the function of the heart's left ventricle and works particularly quietly and effectively," said Matthias Karck, director of the cardiac surgery division at the University Hospital of Heidelberg.
Hospital official said the woman who received the heart pump is now leading a normal life with it at home, AFP reported.