A flexible pressure pump for cardiovascular studies

Pressure pumps are useful in cardiovascular studies and in the evaluation of many circulatory devices. Currently available pumps are, however, far from perfect in their methods of syncrhonization, flexibility, and frequency response. To overcome these disadvantages, this study reports the design of a new pressure pump based on a linear motor. The pump can accurately synchronize with an animal's heart beats by using a phase-lock loop (PLL) technique. It has great flexibility and the ability to generate both arbitrary pressure waves and pure sinusoidal waves. The pressure pump has a frequency response of up to 50 Hz which is suitable for cardiovascular studies on rats, rabbits, cats and dogs.