The titanium device’s underlying principles were first envisioned in 2001 by a biomedical engineer named Daniel Timms. Timms, a plumber’s son, started by mimicking a human circulatory system using hardware store pipes and valves,

A man has lived for more than 100 days with an artificial maglev heart working inside his chest. In a landmark moment, he was discharged earlier this year, becoming the first person in the world to leave the hospital with the device embedded in his body.

A man who received the device in a six-hour surgery last November has become the first patient in the world to be discharged from the hospital with it. He lived with the high-tech heart for over 100 days before receiving a donor transplant.