Pulse-pressure-enhancing controller for better physiologic perfusion of rotary blood pumps based on speed modulation.

Sufficient pulsation is important for physiologic perfusion if adequate flow is to be guaranteed. A fuzzy control method for rotary blood pumps using active speed modulation is proposed in this article. It maintains the mean aortic pressure to provide sufficient perfusion while it simultaneously enhances the pulse pressure. The controller uses the indices extracted from the aortic pressure as feedback to determine the amplitude and offset of the rectangular speed modulation waveform, which is synchronous with the cardiac cycle. An additional algorithm is included to prevent regurgitation. The controller is tested both in a baroreflex-cardiovascular model and in a preliminary in vitro experiment. Simulation results demonstrate that the controller is able to increase the pulse pressure to approximately 20 mm Hg and at the same time maintains the mean pressure at 100 mm Hg, when heart failure occurs. It is also quite robust under various physiologic disturbances. Experimental results show that the speed modulation can be implemented in real pumps and that the controller is feasible in practice.