An electrohydraulic total artificial heart with a separately placed actuator.
An electrohydraulic total artificial heart (EHTAH) system, consisting of a separately placed actuator and blood pumps with good anatomic fit, was designed. In the actuator is a brushless DC motor sandwiched between two metal bellows or two pusher-plate pumps connected with the blood pumps by polyvinylchloride tubes. A roller-screw system coupled with the bellows is used for alternative pumping, and silicone oil transmits the action. The pumps are elliptical, and the right pump has a flatter and longer shape than the left to fit the extremely short distance between the right atrium and the sternum. To evaluate in vivo performance, the pumps were implanted as a pneumatic system in a calf weighing 53 kg and three goats weighing 54-55 kg. The pump fit well in the animals, and the calf survived for 111 days, and one goat was alive for 8 days. The EHTAH system could provide an output of 6 L/min with pusher-plate pumps as oil chambers on in vitro evaluation. This system could become one of the most suitable approaches for a totally implantable system.
Taenaka
Y
Y
Department of Artificial Organs, National Cardiovascular Center, Osaka, Japan.
Sekii
H
H
Tatsumi
E
E
Nakatani
T
T
Sasaki
E
E
Yagura
A
A
Akagi
H
H
Masuzawa
T
T
Goto
M
M
Matsuo
Y
Y
D000818:Animals; D002302:Cardiac Output / Q000502:physiology; D002417:Cattle; D004867:Equipment Design; D004868:Equipment Failure; D006041:Goats; D006354:Heart, Artificial; D006439:Hemodynamics / Q000502:physiology*