An automatic monitoring and estimation tool for the cardiovascular dynamics under ventricular assistance

An automatic, on-line and real-time monitoring and estimation tool for the cardiovascular dynamics under pumping of the left ventricular assist device (LVAD) has been developed to unload the operator who has to pay constant attention to the LVAD operation. The tool can detect the presence and origin of accidents happening in the cardiovascular system, the pneumatic drive unit as well as the automatic controller by means of the fuzzy reasoning. The cardiovascular parameters such as peripheral vessel resistance, arterial compliance and cardiac output are estimated by means of a time series model. In vivo experiment using an adult goat revealed that the proposed system successfully worked during withdrawal of blood.