Device and method for non-invasive measurement of subdiaphragmatic aortic flow in a small laboratory mammal

Abstract

A device non-invasively measures aortic flow in the subdiaphragmatic region in a small laboratory mammal. The device includes a device for plethysmography of the thorax by inductance measurement, having two electrically conducting, extendible coils rigidly attached to an elastic garment that is adjustable to the torso of the mammal, a device for acquiring the signal from variation in the cross-section of each coil, and a processor configured to calculate the instantaneous subdiaphragmatic aortic flow of the mammal from the signals from the variation in cross-section of each coil and from a functional model of the cardiorespiratory system. The exchanges of blood between the thorax and the rest of the body of the mammal include an output of blood via the abdominal aorta in the subdiaphragmatic region and an input of blood via the inferior vena cava.

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