French firm starts human trials of artificial heart

French biomedical firm Carmat said on Friday it had begun the first human trial of its prototype artificial heart, which aims at overcoming shortages of organs available for transplant. The implant operation, which took place on Wednesday at the Georges Pompidou Hospital in Paris, "went satisfactorily," it said in a statement. Tens of thousands of people with hearts damaged by disease or a heart attack die each year because of a lack of a donor.