The physiology of the heart and its mechanism was well known, but attempts at replicating it, difficult enough under ordinary circumstances – were complicated more than Dr. Denton Cooley of Baylor implanted a rudimentary version into a dying patient without seeking consent from the patient’s family or the hospital’s administration. The heart kept the patient alive until a replacement human heart could be found, but the incident caused ethical controversy. By the start of the 1980s medical science progressed somewhat, but finding willing patients was still difficult. Until a lucky alignment of patient and doctor came along.

On this day, December 2, in 1982 Barney Clark, a Seattle dentist, became the first transplant recipient of the Jarvik-7 artificial heart. Clark’s own heart was beyond repair, and while he did not expect to survive long, he consented to the transplant in the interests of furthering science.

The Jarvik 7 was several steps above Cooley’s primitive device, but it still suffered from the same problems. The artificial pump was connected by tubes running outside the chest wall to a machine that powered it. Clark suffered infections and blood clots that led to a series of strokes. The media caught on to the story, renewing the debate over whether these artificial extensions were worth the price they exacted on the body. The technology has improved from then, but no self-containing hearts have been made – they are used only in extreme cases, and then as stopgap measures. The debate continues.