Transducers for myocardial research.
Seven miniaturized transducers to measure force, displacement, and thickness--singly and in combination--in animal experiments are described. The transducers are lightweight and during an open-chest procedure can be inserted within a heartbeat, removed, and reinserted, with minimum trauma. Six or more transducers of various kinds can be used simultaneously without artifacts. For closed-chest experiments a combination force-displacement transducer can be catheter-borne. A trifunctional transducer was used successfully to measure force-displacement thickness in a small area. A single conductor can be added for ECG measurement in the area where the transducer is implanted.
D000818:Animals; D006328:Cardiac Catheterization; D004285:Dogs; D004581:Electronics / Q000295:instrumentation*; D004699:Endocardium / Q000503:physiopathology; D006321:Heart / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008904:Miniaturization / Q000295:instrumentation*; D010496:Pericardium / Q000503:physiopathology; D014159:Transducers