On Apr. 6, 1985, Bill Schroeder from Jasper, Indiana, the second human recipient of the Jarvik 7 artificial heart, was discharged from the hospital, and moved into an apartment in Louisville, KY.

Doctors performed the historic operation Nov. 25, taking 6 hours to cut out his diseased heart and implant the plastic and metal Jarvik-7 device. Shortly afterward, he was rushed back into surgery to correct excessive bleeding.

He became the first person in the world to use a portable drive unit, which weighed only 11.4 pounds and hung from a shoulder strap. Able to replace the desk-sized, 323-pound Utahdrive for a period of up to five hours, the Heimes driver was aimed at helping him lead a life closer to normal.

Barney Clark, the world’s first permanent artificial heart recipient, lived on the device for 112 days at the University of Utah before dying in March 1983 of multiple organ system failure.

Originally used as a permanent replacement heart, the Total Artificial Heart was approved as a bridge to human heart transplant. Today, the modern version of the Jarvik 7, the SynCardia Total Artificial Heart is the only U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Health Canada and CE approved Total Artificial Heart in the world.