SURGEONS have revealed they will carry out the region's first artificial "bionic" heart implant later this year.

A team at the Freeman Hospital's transplant centre expects to perform the revolutionary operation in the autumn.

If all goes well, it should be followed by a second implant before the end of the year.

Last night, Peter Houghton, 64, the first man in the world to be fitted with a permanent mechanical heart three years ago, said: "The Freeman Hospital is one of the best transplant centres in the world. I am glad that they have the boldness and vision to try this alternative to a conventional heart transplant. I wish them every success."

If the privately-funded implants on Tyneside are successful, it could help persuade the Government to fund more operations on the NHS.

Stephen Clark, a heart transplant surgeon at the Newcastle hospital, said: "Our hope is that these implantable devices will eventually replace heart transplants for many patients. Too many people are dying on the waiting list because there are simply not enough hearts available to meet demand."

While heart disease claims more than 100,000 lives a year in the UK, only about 250 heart transplants are performed every year.

Mr Clark stressed that the implant will not suit all heart patients. Those who agree to undergo the operation will have to be carefully selected.

The operation will involve the insertion of a thumb- sized titanium turbine into the heart's main pumping chamber, the left ventricle.

A length of plastic tubing will be inserted alongside the heart to link the American-made turbine to the aorta, the main artery carrying oxygen-rich blood to the rest of the body.

This will involve cutting a hole in the heart to secure the turbine and another hole in the aorta to fix the other end of the tube.

Once the turbine, which includes a ceramic "propeller", is turned on it will begin pumping oxygenated blood around the body at the rate of nine litres a minute.

Because the propeller is battery powered, the surgical team will also have to feed a power cable from the battery unit up through the body and out through a small hole in the patient's ear.

The patient will have to carry with them a battery pack worn on a holster or carried in a shoulder bag.

But because the damaged heart tends to recover to a limited extent, the patient would be able to survive on their own if the electrical flow was cut off for any reason.

Four operations to implant the revolutionary Jarvik 2000 turbine have already taken place in the UK, in Oxford and London.

So far all of them have been funded privately by the Artificial Heart Fund charity, set up by a group of surgeons, business people and patients.

The fund - which has given the Freeman about £100,000 to carry out the first transplant and to cover the costs of aftercare - is aiming to pay for eight artificial heart implants to convince the Government that they are a viable alternative to heart transplants.

One of the main backers of the charity is Stephen Westaby, a surgeon at the Radcliffe Infirmary in Oxford and the man who has performed all four of the UK operations carried out so far.

He is expected to travel to Newcastle to lead the surgical team.

So far two of the four British patients who have had electrically-powered heart units implanted have survived more than two years.

One died three months after surgery as a result of a stroke and one died in an accidental fall