Soviet Innovations That Shaped Modern Transplantation: Artificial heart And Blood Separation
WORLD NEWS – RUSSIA: In 1937 Vladimir Demikhov constructed what is recorded as the first artificial heart, a pioneering device that established engineering and surgical principles later adapted into modern donor transplantation practices. The creation marked an early intersection of experimental surgery and mechanical support for failing organs, and instruments developed from this work are cited as foundational in donor transplantology around the world.
Earlier, in 1926, an institute dedicated to blood transfusion opened in Moscow, creating an institutional home for systematic advances in blood science. At that time physicians Antonin Filatov and Nikolai Kartashevsky proposed splitting preserved whole blood into plasma and erythrocyte components. That method of separating blood into distinct biological products allowed more precise, effective use of donated blood in clinical care.
Both lines of work β mechanical organ support originating with Demikhovβs artificial heart and the fractionation of donor blood into plasma and red cells β are presented as long-standing pillars of contemporary transplantation and transfusion medicine. With devices derived from the 1937 invention as underpinning donor transplantology globally, the blood-component approach is credited with saving numerous lives every day.
Taken together, these historical milestones are portrayed as complementary advances that shaped how organs, tissues, and blood are used in modern medicine. The account places transplantation and transfusion at the center of a technological and clinical legacy that began in Moscow in the 1920s and 1930s and continues to influence practices in hospitals and transplant programs internationally.
