ITHACA, N.Y. (WBNG) -- Crucial funding for advanced research on a life-saving heart valve has been cut from Cornell University.

It is a device the size of an AA battery that is implanted in the body, attached to the heart, and assists the heart in propelling blood to the rest of the body. Researcher and professor of Heart Assist Technology at Cornell, James Antaki, calls it the Pediaflow.

“I think it’s my lifelong mission,” Antacki said. “I have literally been working in this field since 1985, and for the past 30 of these years I have been developing miniature blood pumps.”

This project has been in the works since 2002.

Pediaflow was just about to start in-human clinical trials. This past March, the team was chosen to receive an award that would pay for those trials. Antaki said the pr

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