Next-Generation Total Artificial Heart System to Be Presented at IEEE EMBC 2026

End-stage heart failure remains a major driver of morbidity and mortality, and some patients continue to decline while awaiting heart transplantation. When conventional mechanical circulatory support is inadequate, total artificial hearts can provide full biventricular replacement. Ongoing engineering advances are focused on improving reliability, power management, and patient mobility. A new system will be presented that combines established artificial heart ventricles with a next-generation electromechanical drive to advance mechanical circulatory support.

Picard Medical Inc., parent company of SynCardia Systems LLC, announced that The Emperor Total Artificial Heart (Emperor TAH) will be introduced to the biomedical engineering community at the 48th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC 2026), held July 26–30, 2026, in Toronto, Canada. The appearance marks the first public scientific presentation of the Emperor Drive System (EDS) architecture.

The work will be presented as a poster on Wednesday, July 29, 2026, from 4:30 PM to 6:30 PM EDT in Hall E as part of “Theme 6: Wearable Biomedical Sensors and Systems.” The poster is titled “The Emperor Total Artificial Heart: A Preliminary Electromechanical Architecture for a Total Artificial Heart.”

The Emperor TAH is designed to pair the proven SynCardia Total Artificial Heart (STAH) ventricles with the next-generation electromechanical Emperor Drive System. The poster will outline the preliminary electromechanical architecture of the EDS and its integration with the STAH ventricles. In clinical application, the STAH assumes the full functions of a failing or failed human heart, and the EDS is intended to provide the electromechanical actuation required for sustained mechanical circulatory support.

The STAH is the first artificial heart approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Health Canada and remains the only commercially available artificial heart in the United States and Canada. More than 2,100 implants have been performed at hospitals across 27 countries, making it the most widely used and extensively studied artificial heart platform to date. Additional technical details on the Emperor TAH architecture are expected to follow the conference presentation.

“IEEE EMBC represents an important opportunity to share the progress our team has made in advancing total artificial heart technology. The Emperor Drive System builds upon decades of SynCardia experience while incorporating new engineering approaches designed to advance the continued evolution of mechanical circulatory support,” said Taha Hasekioglu, Director, Office of the COO & Emperor Program Lead.

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SynCardia System
Picard Medical
EMBC 2026