Singapore-led medtech initiative brings artificial-heart device to Indonesia

The device targets Indonesia’s heart-failure gap with a smaller, lighter design backed by Singapore.

Indonesia.md, a Singapore-incorporated subsidiary of Borderless Healthcare Group, has secured exclusive rights to bring a next-generation artificial heart assist device to Indonesia, aiming directly at one of the country’s most urgent clinical gaps: the lack of viable long-term options for severe heart-failure patients.

Developed in Shenzhen, the device is the smallest and lightest of its kind globally and has already been adopted by more than 100 hospitals in China, including Fuwai Hospital in Beijing. With over 1,000 implantations performed, the device accounts for more than 50% market share among Chinese-made artificial heart assist systems.

Dr Wei Siang Yu, Founder and Chairman of Borderless Healthcare Group, said the need in Indonesia is overwhelming. For a big country like Indonesia, with 300 million population, we are looking at about more than 10 million heart failures with a 34% mortality rate,” he said. “So it's very urgent, because Indonesia does not have a very prevalent organ donation, especially in heart donation.”

According to Dr Yu, the affordability and design of the Shenzhen-developed device make it uniquely suited to Indonesia’s needs. Moreover, anatomical suitability and improved patient outcomes are key advantages. “It is also more than half the size of the American device, which means it is very suitable for Asian thorax, which is smaller, and it is lighter and it comes with a much longer battery life,” Dr Yu noted.

The device offers more than 30 hours of battery life, compared with roughly 14 hours for comparable American systems. Its small size also enables minimally invasive surgical approaches, potentially avoiding open-heart procedures and reducing complications and recovery times.

Singapore’s mature digital and clinical infrastructure will play a central role in enabling the rollout. “Singapore is the first country in Asia that actually did an American Heart device, the latest version in 2015… and therefore already has matured interoperability between the surgeon, the cardiologist, and also other allied health professionals,” said Dr Yu. This ecosystem, he added, provides a foundation that Indonesia can “leapfrog” as it adopts the new, more affordable technology.