During a press conference Monday in Paris, French scientists have unveiled a working prototype of a fully artificial heart which is based on the technology of satellites and airplanes. The team, led by Dr Alain Carpentier, a renowned French heart surgeon, presented the prototype of an artificial heart.

The device is coated in specially treated tissue to prevent immune system rejection and the formation of blood clots, and can respond instantly to blood pressure changes thanks to guided missile technology. Following further development, it will be tested on patients whose lives are under threat and who have no other options for treatment before the trials are extended to others with a better outlook. Previous artificial hearts have been unable to automatically vary their pumping speed and must be tweaked externally.

"I was struck by the therapeutic gap, and I thought I could make my contribution as I had already succeeded with bioprostheses," Carpentier told French daily Le Monde, which said two to three more years of tests may be needed before the first human trials.

The French heart almost looks real, with two pumps to send the blood into the lungs and the rest of the body, just like a real heart, while past artificial hearts have only had one pump.

Heart disease claims 17 million lives around the world every year, thus becoming the number 1 killer. According to the American Heart Association, about 2,200 heart transplants were performed in the U.S. in 2006, and there’s more on an incredibly long waiting list.

However experts are still suspicious about the French artificial heart. "Virtually all devices that have been implanted in humans, no matter how well designed, have been associated with unforeseen complications," said Dr. Tim Gardner, president of the American Heart Association.