An Australian man lived for 100 days with an artificial titanium heart while he awaited a donor transplant, the longest period to date of someone with the technology.

For decades, replacing a failing human heart meant waiting—often desperately—for a donor. But in a hospital in Sydney, that paradigm has begun to shift. Last November, surgeons at St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney implanted the BiVACOR Total Artificial Heart in a critically ill patient.

An Australian man with severe heart failure received a metal heart and was well enough to be discharged from the hospital while he waited for a donor. He is now recovering successfully from heart transplant surgery.

Australia's first durable artificial heart implant has been deemed a success after the recipient lived with it for over 100 days before receiving a transplant.