Optimized pulsatile-flow ventricular-assist device and total artificial heart

A method of optimizing a mechanical cardiac pumping device wherein unsteady fluid mechanics are used to optimize the forcing function imposed by the mechanical cardiac pumping device such that the power required by the mechanical cardiac pumping device is the minimum power required to complement the cardiac output of the diseased native heart, said method comprising the steps of:

• a. modeling the dynamic response of the diseased native heart and of the mechanical cardiac pumping device with experimental data;
• b. using the instantaneous non-linear mass, [M], damping, [C], and stiffness, [K] matrices of the dynamic model, and corresponding elemental displacements {x} and its derivatives {{umlaut over (x)}} and {{dot over (x)}}, as inputs into an equation of the form:
• [M]{{umlaut over (x)}}+[C]{{dot over (x)}}+[K]{x}=F{t}
• to calculate the forcing function, F{t}, of the dynamic system;
• c. calculating the forcing function of the diseased native heart, Fnh{t};
• d. calculating the required forcing function of the mechanical cardiac pumping device, Fvad{t}, using an equation of the form:
• F{t}=Fnh{t}+Fvad{t}
• e. inputing the value of Fvad{t}from step d, above, into a controller;
• and
• f. connecting operatively the controller to a mechanical cardiac pumping device, such that the controller is able to direct to the mechanical cardiac pumping device the optimal power required to achieve Fvad{t}.

A method of optimizing a mechanical cardiac pumping device wherein unsteady fluid mechanics are used to optimize the forcing function imposed by the mechanical cardiac pumping device such that the power required by the mechanical cardiac pumping device is the minimum power required to complement the cardiac output of the diseased native heart, said method comprising the steps of:

• a. modeling the dynamic response of the diseased native heart and of the mechanical cardiac pumping device with experimental data;
• b. using the instantaneous non-linear mass, [M], damping, [C], and stiffness, [K] matrices of the dynamic model, and corresponding elemental displacements {x} and its derivatives {{umlaut over (x)}} and {{dot over (x)}}, as inputs into an equation of the form:
• [M]{{umlaut over (x)}}+[C]{{dot over (x)}}+[K]{x}=F{t}
• to calculate the forcing function, F{t}, of the dynamic system;
• c. calculating the forcing function of the diseased native heart, Fnh{t};
• d. calculating the required forcing function of the mechanical cardiac pumping device, Fvad{t}, using an equation of the form:
• F{t}=Fnh{t}+Fvad{t}
• e. balancing the instantaneous power at any time t utilized by the mechanical cardiac pumping device with an equation of the form:
• W(t)=Fvad{t}·{{dot over (x)}}+losses=V{t}·i{t}
• f. inputing the value W(t) from step e, above, into a controller;
• and
• g. connecting operatively the controller to a mechanical cardiac pumping device, such that the controller is able to direct to the mechanical cardiac pumping device the optimal power required to achieve Fvad{t}.