In 2001-2003 Dr Najar approached three professors in cardiac surgery for an evaluation of his invention, artificial heart pump. While two of the professors were supportive and pleased but the third one was very negative despite his agreement that innovation is exceptional and that Dr Najar will face enormous challenges that nobody will succeed to further develop such an invention.
The professor said, “It is like climbing a 90-degree vertical mountain, to reach the top is impossible.”
“Twelve years later that same surgeon/professor assists in the first operation which has been done on pigs and he was happy that I did not listen to him and continue to run the invention,” Dr Najar told SBS Kurdish.
Azad Najar, a senior consultant based in Sweden and the primary founder of Scandinavian Real Heart, which was established in 2007, has developed an artificial heart pump that generates the same oxygenation and pulses a functional heart that produces a healthy body.
Dr Azad Najar (right) with coleague Source: Supplied by Dr Azad Najar
Dr. Najar said he had developed 11 models of artificial hearts so far. The project commenced in late 1999 and early 2000.
“We are towards the end of our journey regarding the invention of the Artificial Heart Pump. It has been twenty years since I have started this project. The first four years I was working on my own, then four years later two other people joined me, but for the past seven years 15 to 20 people are involved with me in this project.”
“In 2014 we introduced our company to Spotlight Stock market in Stockholm to fund the project.”
The innovation of developing an artificial heart has been of interest to the Swedish government, scientific and medical centres as well as the general public, Dr Najar told SBS Kurdish.
Dr Azad Najar ponting at his invention Source: Supplied by Dr Azad Najar
The mechanical heart pump that promises to generate natural oxygenation and pulse will also reduce the risk of blood clots, according to Dr Najar.
“We have a great team with different competencies as doctors, engineers, and designers who are working continuously to develop the artificial heart,” Dr Najar said.
Dr Najar told SBS Kurdish that they have done their last testing on 16th December 2019 on a sheep and hopes that in the near future his invention will be used on humans to save patients’ from heart failure.
Dr Azad Najar (centre) with coleagues Source: Supplied
Dr Najar, who is originally from Zakho in the Kurdistan Region, has been living in Sweden since the early 1990s.
