Medical technology company Scandinavian Real Heart has announced that it will be using a range of AdaCore software solutions to develop reliable embedded software for its Total Artificial Heart device.

The Total Artificial Heart is a device which mimics the way the human heart functions. Scandinavian Real Heart has designed the artificial heart in the hope of saving patients with heart failure and aims to give them a better quality of life than the alternatives currently available. The Total Artificial Heart is designed to be used as a transitional solution for patients who awaiting a heart transplant. It helps to extend their lives and provides the opportunity for increased mobility and a higher quality of life.

Scandinavian Real Heart is in the final development phase of the heart pump’s motor control software, which has a unique ability to adjust to the patient’s blood pressure. AdaCore claims that its software development and verification tools help Real Heart deliver the high assurance, safety, and reliability that lifesaving medical devices demand.

Professor Lars Asplund, main software architect at Scandinavian Real Heart, said: “Our heart pump has to work uninterrupted throughout the life of the patient. The quality and reliability of all parts of the system are crucial. We want to create software with the highest level of safety, and we know that SPARK together with Ada is the best option.”

SPARK Pro is a verification toolset based on formal methods and oriented toward high-assurance systems and is one of the software solutions AdaCore provides with its end-to-end embedded software.

Jamie Ayre, commercial team leader at AdaCore, said: “Innovators like Scandinavian Real Heart continue to choose AdaCore’s comprehensive suite of software development and verification solutions, particularly for lifesaving and safety-critical applications.”

Scandinavian Real Heart hopes that these software developments could result in the artificial heart device soon becoming a more permanent solution for patients who are unable to receive a donated heart.