YAKIMA, Wash. --Fred Pierce has neither a pulse nor a heartbeat, but he's living and loving life.

The 64-year-old Yakima man had a massive heart attack last summer that left him with less than 16 percent of his normal heart function.

But today, thanks to a titanium heart pump in his abdomen that's attached to his aorta, Pierce is feeling good, tinkering in his shop, mowing the lawn and getting ready to go back to work at Home Depot in Union Gap, where he builds kitchens.

"I've always been interested in science fiction," said the good-natured Pierce. "Now I'm bionic."

Because his pump operates continuously -- there's no opening and closing of heart valves -- Pierce has no pulse or blood pressure. It's a medical oddity he's used at least once to prank emergency medical workers.

Essentially, the rotary pump, turning at 9,200 revolutions per minute, has taken over the duties of the valves in his weakened heart's left ventricle, sending
oxygen-rich blood flowing throughout his body.

Indeed, the device inside Pierce has the kind of cyborg quality that made "The Six Million Dollar Man" a popular television show in the late 1970s and gives Americans faith that scientific ingenuity can bioengineer the human body to live a longer life.

The device is called the HeartMate II Left Ventricular Assist System. It's relatively new, receiving Food and Drug Administration approval in late January for so-called destination therapy -- that is, for patients for whom transplant isn't feasible and drug therapies aren't effective.

In 2008, the device was approved for "bridge-to-transplant" patients -- those deemed good transplant candidates.

Clinical trials showed the device significantly improved the health and qualify of life of patients with advanced-stage heart disease with a low incidence of complications, such as stroke.

A report by the New England Journal of Medicine said 58 percent of those with the implants were alive after two years and had not suffered a stroke or needed a replacement.

While not all heart-failure patients qualify for a pump, an estimated 20,000 to 500,000 Americans a year could benefit from the technology.

Not surprisingly, the pump has generated profits for its manufacturer, Thoratec Corp. of Pleasanton, Calif., which posted first quarter growth of 34 percent.

The market for the devices is in mostly older patients with advanced heart failure. Surgery to implant a single pump costs from $150,000 to $200,000, including the $80,000 cost of the device. Medicare and private insurance usually cover the costs.

The brains of Pierce's heart pump sit in a small fanny pack around his waist. A power cable that emerges from his abdomen connects the pump to a system controller, which is also connected to two 14-volt lithium-ion batteries that fit in his back pockets. They weigh a couple of pounds apiece, but Pierce, a big, strapping former sheriff in Coos Bay, Ore., barely notices them.

At night, Pierce plugs into an AC outlet for power.

The batteries are charged every eight hours. If they get low or he loses power, Pierce will get weak, fall and even die, so he's careful to keep the batteries charged.

But the mobility the wearable unit offers is essential to his quality of life. The pump itself measures just 2.5 by 1.5 inches and weighs only 12 ounces.

"I hate to be held down," said the avid camper.

Dr. Tony Kim, Pierce's cardio-thoracic surgeon at Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland, said the device represents a quantum leap since the days of Barney Clark, the Seattle dentist who received the Jarvik 7 artificial heart in 1982.

Clark, who lived 112 days, was tethered to machinery the size of a refrigerator.

"This is much smaller and there's only one moving part, which reduces a lot of the complications and inefficiencies these devices have presented in the past," said Kim, who has implanted 17 devices since the FDA approval.

Pierce's device is not an artificial heart. He still has his own heart and will be on the waiting list for a transplant.

But the device should last 10 years, which is comforting because there aren't enough donor hearts to go around and the cutoff age for transplants is typically 65 to 70.

Kim believes the technology, despite its hefty price tag, will actually save the health care system money. That's because the cost of taking care of someone with heart failure can be very expensive. These patients require lengthy hospitalization and oftentimes kidney dialysis. Statistics show that up to 90 percent of an individual's health care dollars are consumed in the final week of life.

"That's a lot," Kim said. "All therapies are expensive, but if you weigh the cost of (the heart pump) against other end-stage heart failure therapies, there's a strong argument this would avert those costs."

Pierce's wife, Aloha, had to be trained in how the device works and in its maintenance, operation and emergency procedures. The whole thing still rattles her a bit.

"It's kind of freaky," she said.

But Pierce said he didn't flinch a bit when doctors first proposed giving him the device: "'Do it,' I told them."

The Pierces have notified local rescue and ER officials to make sure they don't perform CPR if they are called to the home for a medical emergency and Fred is unconscious.

"CPR will kill me," he said.

But that hasn't kept him from having a little fun with medical professionals.

On one occasion after the device was installed, he and Aloha were staying in a hotel in Portland to be near the hospital. He had some bleeding, and his doctors told him to call an ambulance and get to the nearest ER.

As the paramedic was wrapping his arm in a blood pressure sleeve, Pierce said, "I don't have any blood pressure and I'm not from here."

The perplexed paramedic radioed ahead that his patient "has no vitals and says he's not from here."

Pierce finally gave him a card that spells out his medical condition and the heart pump, but he couldn't help but use the same line on the ER doctor.

Still, he knows his heart really isn't a laughing matter. The experience has deepened his faith and renewed his commitment to eat more healthfully. He's given up the beer and greasy food and grown closer to family members.

"Every day is a blessing. You don't take anything for granted."

* Leah Beth Ward can be reached at 509-577-7626 or lward@yakimaherald.com.

HEART PUMP DO'S AND DON'TS

Among the restrictions on heart-pump wearers:

* No swimming or taking baths; contact with water will stop the pump or cause an electrical shock.

* A first shower after getting the implant requires a doctor's permission; subsequent showers require a special kit to protect the pump's computer.

* They can't touch a TV or computer screen or use a vacuum cleaner to avoid creating static electricity.

* MRIs are forbidden.

* No driving or sitting in the front seat; a deployed airbag could damage a newly implanted pump.

* Keys, coins and other metallic objects must be kept from the pump's external batteries to avoid short-circuiting them.

* No contact sports, which can cause internal bleeding or damage the pump.

* They must sleep on their back or left side to avoid pressing on the line between the pump and the computer.

* Young women must avoid pregnancy; the required blood thinners can cause birth defects and a fetus could dislodge the pump.

* They must learn to pace themselves in daily activities to avoid getting out of breath.

-- Sources: Thoratec Corp., maker of the HeartMate II Left Ventricular Assist System; and the Dallas Morning News