He said better outcomes are inevitable as doctors learn to reduce complications, as patients are allowed access to devices "when they are less wasted and therefore less risky" and as technology itself gets better. The machines themselves need to last longer, Long said, at least seven to 10 years.

The new design by HeartQuest has only one moving part and it doesn't touch anything. The rotor is suspended in a magnetic field, which should take care of wear and tear. The mechanical durability is virtually limitless. And electronics can be made highly reliable. Some components will be replaceable while the pump is still in place.

"There's a lot of promise and hope out there," Long said.

A helping hand

The Utah Arm was a U. baby, born in the Center for Biomedical Design (now the Center for Engineering Design). It was spun off to a company called Motion Control, created to manufacture it, which it began doing in 1981. By modern standards, it was brilliant but primitive. There was no simultaneous control of the hand, wrist and elbow. You'd run the elbow, lock it, then run the hand.

Two decades later, the most advanced generation of the arm is controlled by a microprocessor. It talks to a laptop, so you can plug it in to diagnose problems or make adjustments. It has an auto-calibration feature as well, said Ed Iversen, who was a member of the original design team at the U. and now leads Research and Development for Motion Control.

That lets the user adjust how easy it is to run. Over the course of the day, as the muscles tire, the user can turn up the power to the arm.

Dr. Harold Sears was a student member of the design team, which was headed by Dr. Stephen C. Jacobsen, considered the inventor of the Utah Arm. It really spawned two companies; the technology was sold to Motion Control, where Sears is now general manager. The other company, Sarcos (Jacobsen's there), has moved more into robotics. Occasionally, they work together on some new development.

Artificial arms can be electronic or mechanical. Mechanical devices tend to run on cables. For arms, the cable stretches across the individual's back. He swings the arm, then shrugs his shoulders to open and close the hand.

Electronics are a lot more expensive, delicate and capable. But the price tag can make the decision. Where a mechanical prosthesis can run from $8,000 to $25,000, being fitted with and learning to use an electronic arm may cost $60,000 to $100,000.

The Utah Arm and its progeny are decidedly electronic.

The most popular design for an electronic arm uses electromyographic signals from the "remnant muscles" still in place. When you flex a muscle in the body, it puts out a certain amount of electrical signal, and the stronger you flex, the more signal it sends. Someone who has lost an arm just above the elbow could use what's left of the bicep and tricep muscles, for instance.