This story was originally published on the Good Notes blog and then @TheU.

By University of Utah Health

In 1982, a team at University of Utah Hospital made history by performing the first permanent artificial heart implant on a human. That operation was the result of decades of research and trials. The successful surgery made headlines around the world.

Graduate student Emma Webb recently completed in-depth research of the procedure and University of Utah Health's place in medical history.

The team involved

Researchers had been working since 1967 on artificial hearts. Then, in 1982, the Food and Drug Administration gave approval to U of U Health to perform the surgery. It would be the first artificial heart implant on a human.

The team involved included:

• Willem Kolff, M.D., Ph.D., who immigrated to Utah from Holland and started the Department of Artificial Organs.
• William DeVries, M.D., led the surgical team and implanted the heart.
• Robert Jarvik, M.D., was the principal designer for the model of artificial heart used, the Jarvik-7.
• Don Olsen, Ph.D., the head veterinarian, had led more than 300 animal trials for the artificial heart.
• George Pantalos, Ph.D., came to the University of Utah in 1983 and was heavily involved with research after the operation.
• Barney Clark was the patient for the operation.

Finding the ideal patient

DeVries couldn't find any patient to fit the criteria needed for the surgery. That's when his colleague, Jeffrey Anderson, M.D., suggested Clark as the ideal candidate.

Clark was a Seattle-based dentist, originally from Utah. He was suffering from end-stage cardiomyopathy. He was resilient and physically able to host the artificial heart with a will to live and a strong and loving family at home.

Clark took some convincing. But he wanted to contribute to medicine and humanity, so he agreed to the operation.