In short:
A mechanical heart has been implanted in a New South Wales man who was experiencing severe heart failure.
He has become the first person in the world to be discharged from hospital with the titanium heart.
What’s next?
Doctors say the invention will likely be an alternative for donor heart transplants in the future.
I actually know this! I used to work on an LVAD controller about 10 years ago. The technology is largely similar.
The pumps are centrifugal, they have to maintain blood pressure, and are largely waterproof.
The pumps spin with a brushless DC motor controlled by PWM. Depending on the specifics of the motor the RPM can be between 8,000 and 22,000. Because of the limitations of battery technology, you’re stuck with using a LiPo battery. LiPos are annoying as all shit to deal with. You have to charge them carefully, discharge them carefully, and they’re pretty big.
To give you an idea - FPV drone batteries can last several minutes: https://www.getfpv.com/batteries/mini-quad-batteries/auline-21700-4000mah-14-8v-a45-4s-li-ion-battery-xt60.html (if you need help with scale - the yellow connector is called an xt60). On a really carefully tuned racer, you can get maybe 5 minutes out of a quad that would use that battery.