Abbott has unveiled a specially designed teddy bear to help healthcare practitioners explain left ventricular assist devices (LVAD) to children and young people living with heart failure.
Abbott revealed the ‘Abbey Bear’ at the 39th annual meeting of the European Association of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery (8–11 October, Copenhagen, Denmark). The company plans to make it available to key cardiac centres across Europe in early 2026.
The plush bear includes a stitched LVAD on its heart, with soft battery packs and a monitoring device, similar to that worn by patients with a real LVAD.
An update to the label for Abbott’s HeartMate 3, to include paediatric patients with advanced refractory left ventricular heart failure, has recently been approved in Europe. Many children and adolescents with congestive heart failure require a heart transplant or mechanical device implant to survive. The HeartMate 3 left ventricular assist device (LVAD) is an implantable device that pumps blood through the body in people whose heart is too weak to do so on its own.
In the largest LVAD trial in the world, the HeartMate 3 pump showed a survival rate of 79% at two years.
“The availability of HeartMate 3 as an option for paediatric patients is a significant milestone for young people, their families and their clinicians. This technology can give young people a chance to enjoy what matters to them, whether that’s playing with friends, participating in sports, or just spending more time at home instead of a hospital,” commented Finn Gustafsson, chief medical officer of Abbott’s Heart Failure business. “Our pursuit of increased access to HeartMate 3 in this underserved population is a demonstration of our ongoing commitment to supporting people living with cardiovascular disease in Europe. We hope the Abbey Bear can reduce the anxiety that some young people might have about their device and allow clinicians to explain the technology in a way that makes sense to younger minds. We believe this little bear will have a big impact.”
