Chinese doctors implant world's smallest, lightest artificial heart into boy

Public data shows that in China about 40,000 children are hospitalized annually due to heart failure, and seven to 10 percent of them require urgent heart transplants. Despite this, fewer than 100 pediatric heart transplants are conducted each year nationwide, underscoring the unresolved challenges in pediatric heart failure treatment.

"Such a micro pump can give children a critical window to restore myocardial function while awaiting a donor heart," said Dong.

Dong said his team will continue to perform clinical research to further assess the device's efficacy and safety while exploring and evaluating its range of clinical applications.