Physiological control of an implantable ventricular assist device

• Grant number: 12/15242-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: October 01, 2012
• End date: September 30, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Biomedical Engineering - Medical Engineering
• Principal Investigator: Chi Nan Pai
• Grantee: Daniel Popp Coelho
• Host Institution: Centro de Engenharia, Modelagem e Ciências Sociais Aplicadas (CECS). Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC). Ministério da Educação (Brasil). Santo André , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Continuous flow blood pumps (CBPs) with magnetic bearings have been developed to assist the pumping function of the weakened left ventricle and, in doing that, solve the problem of lack of donors for a heart transplant. These pumps, because of the absence of friction between the parts, present high durability, which eliminates the actual need for transplantation altogether. However, since the rotational speed is constant, determined by the physician, they lack the capacity to adapt to the blood flow demanded by physical exercise, which means that the required additional blood flow must be provided by the weakened left ventricle, contributing to the worsening of its condition. The goal of this project is to develop a rotational speed control system for CBPs using the heart frequency as an indicator of the patient's metabolic needs. To achieve this goal, the study of heart physiology during exercise is going to be performed. After that, control of the CBP used in the project, especially the motor control, is going to be learned by the student, as well as the TWR-MCF51MM (Freescale Inc., Texas, U.S.A.) microcontroller development kit, which includes an ECG acquisition card. The next step involves writing an algorithm to process the ECG signal and to extract the heart frequency information, which is going to be used as a control parameter for the rotational speed of the CBP.(AU)