Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
5
4d
3
3
4
3e
3f
FIGURE 9.39
Heart compression device equipped with IPMNC fingers.
FIGURE 9.40
A heart with an IPMNC compression band.
encapsulated enclosure filled with water to create a soft cushion for the compression
fingers,
4d
s are IPMNC-based sensor cilia to continuously monitor the compression
forces applied to the heart, and
3e
and
3f
are the associated wiring and electronics,
respectively.
As designed, this device produces assisting or soft compression of the left
ventricle of a weak heart to produce more internal pressure and to pump more blood
from one or more sides in synchrony with the natural systolic contraction of the
ventricle. Additionally, the system can provide arrhythmia control of the beating
heart. The soft fingers incorporate suitably located electrodes for monitoring the
ventricular stroke volume and pressure. A simpler design configuration uses a com-
pression band to assist the heart in its systolic and diastolic cycles of compres-
sion-decompression as shown in figure 9.40.
The compression band can be designed so that it can encircle the heart, as shown
in figure 9.41. Other configurations are depicted in figures 9.42 and 9.43. Compression
