Surgeons from the University of Louisville performed the first self-contained mechanical heart implant on an unnamed American patient at the Jewish Hospital, Louisville, Kentucky, USA, on 2 July 2001.

The artificial heart is known as the AbioCor and is made from a metal and plastic motorized hydraulic pump. The clinical team performing the implant was lead by University of Louisville surgeons Laman A. Gray, Jr., M.D., and Robert D. Dowling, M.D. The surgery lasted seven hours and involved a team of 14 nurses, perfusionists, physician assistants, anesthesiologists [stet] and other support staff.