Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
CHAPTER
4
The Heart
LEARNING OUTCOMES
1.
Identify major structures that compose the
heart
2.
Explain how blood flows through the heart
3.
Evaluate the action potential in the cardiac
muscle as compared to nerve cells
4.
Calculate the work that the heart
undergoes to move blood through the
cardiovascular system
5.
Describe the cardiac conduction system
6.
Relate the electrocardiogram waves to the
contraction of heart muscle
7.
Explain the pressure
8.
Model the motion of the heart in three
dimensions
9.
Calculate the stress distribution
throughout heart tissue
10.
Demonstrate the function of heart valves
11.
Examine how blood flows through heart
valves
12.
Describe the tension
pressure relationship
within heart valve leaflets
13.
Compare salient disease conditions that
are related to the heart and the heart
valves
volume relationship
within the cardiac cycle
4.1 CARDIAC PHYSIOLOGY
The heart is a muscle that primarily acts to pump blood throughout the entire cardio-
vascular system. It is composed of two separate pumps that work in synergy to transport
blood through the vascular system (
Figure 4.1
). One of these pumps (the “left pump”)
delivers oxygenated blood to the body, while the other pump (the “right pump”) delivers
deoxygenated blood to the lungs. Each of these pumps is composed of two pumping
chambers: the atrium (plural, atria) and the ventricle. The atria are more of a passive
pumping system that facilitates blood movement into the ventricles. The atria, therefore,
act as primer pumps for the ventricles. The ventricles are more of an active pumping
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