It was a “difficult decision”, admits Stéphane Piat at Tech&Co. But after a year of suspension, the CEO of Carmat is preparing to resume artificial heart transplants developed by his company. The date of the first operation remains secret, but it is scheduled for sometime in November.
Have very precise processes
This one-year pause was motivated by the detection of quality defects. “We thought it was smarter, for the future of the company, to stop”, explains Stéphane Piat. Thus, the 26 devices ready to be transplanted were put on a test bench. “We have never learned so much”, congratulates the Carmat boss.
On October 25, Carmat announced that it had received approval to resume deployments. The Dekra certifying body has approved all the changes made by the company. Now it is possible for Carmat to resume the mission of compensating for the lack of organ donation.
An expected cruising speed in the second quarter of 2023
During his retirement, the company had to maintain its costs. Therefore, it will take time to resume stable production. “I think we will be able to reach a significant cruising speed from the second quarter of next year”, confesses Stéphane Piat.
Parallel to this resumption of transplants, Carmat plans to continue improving his artificial heart. The company hopes to one day be able to remove the cable that connects the artificial organ to the batteries to power it. With the consumption of energy, “a fairly strong, powerful and reliable technology will be needed”, concludes the general director of Carmat.
Source: BFM TV
