Wireless Power Transmission for Left Ventricular Assist Devices: Advancements, Challenges, and Future Directions

This paper discusses the state of the art of applying wireless power transfer (WPT) to power a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) which is an implanted heart pump to support failing hearts of heart failure patients. Starting from the historical background of LVAD therapy and systems, the WPT applications proposed in the last two decades to eliminate the driveline infection (DLI) are presented highlighting differences in proposed solutions and technological advances. Finally, future directions are presented underlining that the use of LVAD as destination therapy instead of "bridge-to-transplant" therapy is very likely thanks to WPT technology.