the Food and Drug Administration on September 5, 2006 for HDE status. However, only one patient received the AbioCor after approval, a "76-year-old man with congestive heart failure, who did not qualify for a heart transplant." In August 2012, key AbioCor researcher and developer David Lederman died from pancreatic cancer. The company also had plans to improve the AbioCor with a second version based upon the AbioCor ventricles and the Penn State energy converter. It was expected to last for five years, more than triple the life expectancy of AbioCor. The company stated it would be 30 percent smaller than the original model, and it could be implanted in smaller men and women. Additional modifications were planned to reduce the patient's risk of stroke, which was a concern of the FDA. , AbioCor II has not come to fruition, however. Additionally, the AbioCor product has been removed from the AbioMed website, with several news agencies reporting in 2015 that the company had quietly abandoned further development of the device. In 2019, Abiomed was marketing the Impella Ventricular Support Systems, left-side heart pump models "intended to help pump blood in patients who need short-term support (up to 6 days)". In popular culture The AbioCor heart is featured in the 2009 film Crank: High Voltage, when it is transplanted into the main character Chev Chelios's (Jason Statham) chest after he had been abducted by Chinese mobsters in the very beginning of the movie. However, the heart depicted in the film has a much lower battery life but gives Chev superhuman athleticism when fully charged (for dramatic purposes). The model of the heart in the movie is called AviCor. See also Gus Rosenberg References External links AbioMed FAQ (PDF) 2006 FDA Approval Press Release Cardiology Implants (medicine) Inventions in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution Prosthetics