Currently, I’m a graduate student in Dr. Bluestein’s lab working on the design and fabrication of a left ventricle flow loop.
The left ventricle flow loop currently used in lab requires a complete redesign. The small volume flow loop is used for platelet activity state testing of prosthetic aortic heart valves. The current setup is considered to be not ideal, very difficult to assemble, and difficult to generate a consistent fluid volume/actuation. In my redesign, I’m trying to tackle several design requirements such as:
- Ease of assembly
- Consistency of the fluid chamber
- Consistent compliance/resistance
- Physiological ventricle design and actuation
- Flow and pressure monitorization
