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In vivo studies of pulsatile implantable impeller assist and total hearts
1Department of Surgery, Medical College of National Taiwan University, Taipei, Republic of China.
Insights
This study evaluated impeller assist heart devices for blood compatibility. Results show good blood compatibility with no severe organ dysfunction, indicating potential for cardiac assist applications.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical Engineering
- Cardiovascular Research
- Medical Device Technology
Background:
- Chronic and acute cardiac assist devices are crucial for managing heart failure.
- Evaluating the hemocompatibility and organ function impact of novel cardiac assist devices is essential.
- Pulsatile impeller assist hearts and total hearts represent advanced cardiac support technologies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the blood compatibility of a pulsatile impeller assist heart as a chronic left ventricular assist device.
- To evaluate the blood compatibility of a total heart as an acute biventricular assist device.
- To determine the impact of these devices on hemolysis, thrombogenesis, and organ function.
Main Methods:
- Chronic left ventricular assist device implantation in calves (n=5) and acute biventricular assist device implantation in pigs (n=4).
- Monitoring of hemolysis, thrombogenesis, renal, and hepatic function indicators.
- Analysis of blood cell counts, hematocrit, hemoglobin, free hemoglobin, and lactate dehydrogenase levels.
Main Results:
- The impeller assist heart demonstrated no severe blood damage or organ dysfunction in experiments up to 11 days.
- Biventricular assist experiments showed acceptable ranges for blood parameters during 6-hour trials.
- Both impeller assist heart and total heart devices exhibited good blood compatibility.
Conclusions:
- The impeller assist heart and total heart devices possess advantages in simplicity, implantability, and pulsatility.
- These devices demonstrate favorable blood compatibility for cardiac assist applications.
- The study confirms the potential of these novel cardiac assist devices.
Abstract:
A pulsatile impeller assist heart and a total heart were tested as a chronic left ventricular assist device in 5 calves and an acute biventricular assist device in 4 pigs respectively, to evaluate their blood compatibility. During the left ventricular assist experiments, the indicators for hemolysis, thrombogenesis, renal dysfunction, and hepatic dysfunction were measured preoperatively, at the beginning of the pumping, 6 h postoperatively, and every following day. The results demonstrated that the impeller assist heart causes no severe blood damage nor organ dysfunction in the experiments lasting up to 11 days. In biventricular assist experiments, the number of red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets, and the hematocrit, hemoglobin, free hemoglobin, and lactate dehydrogenase levels were tested preoperatively at the beginning of the pumping and every 2 h postoperatively. The data remained in acceptable ranges during experiments lasting 6 h. It is confirmed that the authors' impeller assist heart and total heart have the advantages of simplicity, implantability, and pulsatility with good blood compatibility.