Artificial heart patient reaches 60-day milestone

Tools received the implant 60 days ago, but only revealed his identity last week.

LOUISVILLE, Kentucky (CNN) -- Artificial heart recipient Robert Tools celebrated a milestone on Thursday, marking two months since an implanted machine began pumping blood through his veins.

The makers of Tools' artificial heart, AbioCor, had said they would consider this trial a success if the patient reached the 60-day mark.

Doctors at Jewish Hospital in Louisville, Kentucky, gave Tools, who only revealed his identity publicly last week, a 20 percent chance of surviving longer than 30 days without the surgery. Since the operation on July 2, the same doctors said Tools, 59, has shown steady and substantial improvement.

VIDEO Robert Tools talks to the press (August 21) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)   EXTRA INFORMATION Explainer: See a diagram of how the heart is implanted and powered   Timeline: What research led to the implantation of the artificial heart?     RESOURCES On the Scene: Rhonda Rowland: Artificial heart recipient has exceeded expectations   CNN Acess: Doctor: 'Thrilled' for heart recipient     KEY FACTS: What is it? The AbioCor is a totally implantable artificial heart made of titanium and plastic. It weighs about 2 pounds. What does it do? The device pumps blood through the heart to the lungs and the rest of the body, simulating a living heartbeat. Who is it for? The AbioCor is designed for heart failure patients who have failed all existing therapies. If it is successful, about 100,000 patients a year could benefit. What does it cost? The AbioCor is estimated to cost about $70,000. Why is it important? Manufacturer Abiomed says AbioCor could be a viable alternative for patients with no other options. It could give them more freedom of movement, because they would not need to be tethered to large machines the way recipients of the first artificial heart were. It could also reduce the risk of infection because it is completely implanted -- no wires or tubes stick out of the patient's body.

Tools, a former schoolteacher, had been suffering from renal failure and diabetes when he entered the hospital. His 6-foot-2-inch frame had dwindled from 200 to 150 pounds, and he was going into kidney and liver failure, with barely the strength to lift his head or talk, surgeon Dr. Robert Dowling said.

Surgeons sewed the plastic and titanium device inside Tool's body along with a battery pack and a controller just under two months ago. The patient has no tubes or wires extending outside his chest.

Previous artificial hearts had been powered by external controllers, weighing as much as 300 pounds, and frequently failed to produce satisfactory results in patients.

The implanted battery pack that Tools has is for short-term use. Doctors said the artificial heart is normally powered by a unit that is "plugged into the wall" and transmits an electrical current through the skin.

Doctors said Tools' liver and kidney function have improved, remaining in the normal range, and he "is continuing to battle the gastrointestinal bleeding that he has had since before the ... operation."

But Tools still must recover his strength, gain 20 pounds, and learn to live and work with a heart that whirs, instead of pounds, in his chest before he can go back to his Franklin, Kentucky, home, doctors said.

Tools' current daily rehab regimen includes light weight training, stationary bike exercises, balancing activities, and sitting and standing coordination, as well as his increasingly frequent walks.

These exercises "help build up his upper body musculature and helps improve his lung capacity, build up his strength and endurance and his general conditioning," Tools' physical therapist, Kathy Prescott, told CNN.

She said Tools, whom she described as "extremely debilitated, deconditioned" when she first met him, is making good progress.

"He started out the first day just taking four steps, and now he's up to 100 feet, two to three times a day," she said.

In time, doctors say, Tools could spend years with his artificial heart. But Dowling said there are no plans to insert similar devices into other patients.