Sensitivity of the artificial heart to changes in vascular resistance

For conditions near those for normal operation, the cardiac output of the healthy natural heart is inherently sensitive to systemic venous resistance but is relatively insensitive to arterial resistance. A mathematical comparison was undertaken to discover the differences in the sensitivity of two configurations of artificial hearts to these resistances. It was found that one design incorporating independently pumping ventricles can be tailored to passively mimic the sensitivity of the natural heart. However, the other design with volumetrically coupled pumping is incapable of exhibiting similar sensitivity through passive means.