Development and evaluation of electrically actuated abdominal left ventricular assist systems for long-term use.
A long-term, totally implantable, electrically actuated, abdominally positioned left ventricular assist system (ALVAS) is being developed, characterized in vitro, and evaluated in vivo for utilization in patients with end-stage cardiac failure refractory to conventional therapeutic techniques. The first two major subsystems of the ALVAS (the pusher-plate blood pump and electrical-mechanical energy converters) have been integrated and are undergoing in vitro characterization and long-term in vivo evaluations in calves. Duration of these studies has exceeded 6 months. System performance in terms of hemodynamic effectiveness, mechanical reliability, and biocompatibility has been excellent and no untoward effects have been observed. Long-term effectiveness of the ALVAS remains to be established in continuing experiments, with a 2 year period of clinical use as an ultimate goal.
D000005:Abdomen; D001243:Assisted Circulation / Q000295:instrumentation*; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D006439:Hemodynamics; D013318:Stroke Volume