Ventricular assist device (VAD)

A ventricular assist device (VAD) is a mechanical pump that’s used to support heart function and blood flow in people who have weakened hearts.

The device takes blood from a lower chamber of the heart and helps pump it to the body and vital organs, just as a healthy heart would. (For more information about how the heart pumps blood, see the Diseases and Conditions Index How the Heart Works article.)

A VAD may be used if one or both of the heart’s lower chambers, the ventricles (VEN-trih-kuls), don’t work properly.