Heart chamber simulator with electronic accelerated heart valve wear and fatigue test apparatus and method
First Claim
1. An in vitro tester for fluid valves used as replacements in the human heart comprising:
- means to mount in vitro a human heart replacement valve;
a fluid source providing a means fluid pressure and fluid flow;
fluid conductors to connect said fluid source to said heart valve for pulsed actuation of said heart valve; and
a pressure generator to apply a periodic pulsed pressure to said fluid to cause said pulsed actuation;
said pressure generator including;
a diaphragm in contact with said fluid;
a coil secured to said diaphragm;
means to generate a first magnetic field about said coil; and
means to selectively apply a plurality of different types of signals to cause current flow through said coil of said pressure generator;
said current flow generating an electromagnetic field which interacts with said first magnetic field to move said diaphragm against said fluid to provide pressure pulses to said fluid in response to said current flow causing actuation of said heart valve responsive to said current flow;
whereby variable control of actuation of said human heart replacement valves can be provided in vitro to more closely simulate various heart pumping actions, including abnormal conditions and accelerated pumping action.
0 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An accelerated wear and fatigue tester for replacement human heart valves includes a fluid which is caused to pulse the heart valve by a pressure generator utilizing a coil secured to a flexible diaphragm in contact with the fluid. The coil is subjected to a magnetic field and a signal selected from pulsed, sinusoidal, or random pulses and/or a DC offset, or a recorded signal from a human heart, such that the magnetic interaction selectively pulses the diaphragm and replacement heart valve to simulate heart action. A plurality of pressure generators with differing signals, including phase differences, may be provided to simulate arrhythmia in a heartbeat, and a library of recordings may be used as a database to predict irregularities in replacement heart valves.
-
Citations
35 Claims
-
1. An in vitro tester for fluid valves used as replacements in the human heart comprising:
-
means to mount in vitro a human heart replacement valve; a fluid source providing a means fluid pressure and fluid flow; fluid conductors to connect said fluid source to said heart valve for pulsed actuation of said heart valve; and a pressure generator to apply a periodic pulsed pressure to said fluid to cause said pulsed actuation; said pressure generator including; a diaphragm in contact with said fluid; a coil secured to said diaphragm; means to generate a first magnetic field about said coil; and means to selectively apply a plurality of different types of signals to cause current flow through said coil of said pressure generator; said current flow generating an electromagnetic field which interacts with said first magnetic field to move said diaphragm against said fluid to provide pressure pulses to said fluid in response to said current flow causing actuation of said heart valve responsive to said current flow; whereby variable control of actuation of said human heart replacement valves can be provided in vitro to more closely simulate various heart pumping actions, including abnormal conditions and accelerated pumping action. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
-
-
20. A method of in vitro testing replacement heart valves of the type implanted in the human heart comprising:
-
mounting said replacement heart valve in a fluid; said fluid having a mean fluid pressure and flow; providing a heart valve actuator including a flexible diaphragm in contact with said fluid, and a coil assembly connected to said diaphragm and magnetically coupled to an associated magnet field; periodically energizing said coil with an electrical pulsed signal selected from the group consisting of sinusoidal, triangular, square and random electrical pulses, and a recording of an actual human heart to cause said coil and diaphragm to move in said magnetic field; movement of said diaphragm applying pressure to said fluid and against said replacement heart valve to actuate said replacement heart valve in response to said signal; recording the response of said replacement heart valve to said electrical signal to provide a response database which includes responses of said replacement heart valve in advance of irregularities occurring in said heart valve; monitoring the heart action of a person having an implanted heart valve to provide implanted heart performance data; and comparing said implanted heart performance data and said response database to detect similarities which may indicate potential irregularities in said implanted heart valve. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
-
-
30. A method of testing replacement heart valves of the type implanted in a human heart comprising:
-
mounting said replacement heart valve in a fluid; said fluid having a mean fluid pressure and flow; providing a heart valve actuator including a flexible diaphragm in contact with said fluid, and a coil assembly positioned in a magnetic field and connected to said diaphragm; monitoring the heart action of a person having an implanted heart valve to provide an implanted heart valve signal; energizing said coil with said implanted heart signal to move said coil in said magnetic field to apply pressure to said fluid through said diaphragm to move said fluid against said replacement heart valve and actuate said replacement valve in response to said implanted heart valve signal; and increasing the frequency of said implanted heart signal to accelerate the actuation of said replacement heart valve to determine if any irregularities in said replacement heart valve occur which may indicate possible future irregularities in said implanted heart valve in response to said heart action of said person. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33, 34)
-
-
35. A method of testing replacement heart valves of the type implanted in the human heart comprising:
-
mounting a first replacement heart valve in a fluid; providing a heart valve actuator including a flexible diaphragm in contact with said fluid, and a coil assembly physically connected to said diaphragm and magnetically coupled to an associated magnet field; monitoring the heart action of a person in need of an implanted heart valve to provide an actual heart signal; energizing said coil with said actual heart signal to move said coil in said magnetic field to apply pressure to said fluid through said diaphragm to move said fluid against said first replacement heart valve in response to said actual heart signal; accelerating the actuation of said first replacement heart valve by increasing the speed of said actual heart signal to determine if any irregularities in said replacement heart valve occur which may indicate possible future irregularities in response to said heart action of said person; and substituting one or more additional replacement heart valves in place of said first replacement heart valve to compare the suitability of each of the various heart valves as an actual heart valve replacement for said person.
-
Specification