Impedance loading servo pump system for excised canine ventricle.

To investigate ventricular-arterial system interaction, we have developed a hybrid-computer-controlled impedance loading servo pump system that enables us to impose a simulated arterial hydraulic impedance on an excised canine ventricle. An analog computer programmed to simulate a three-element Windkessel model of the arterial system computes instantaneous aortic flow from the instantaneous ventricular pressure. The time integral of this flow is used to command a volume servo pump system that controls the instantaneous ventricular volume. All parameter values in the loading system are controlled by a digital computer. The actual impedance spectrum generated by the system was reasonably close to that expected from the arterial model. The unique features of this system are the following. 1) The instantaneous volume of the ventricle, which is crucial information, can be measured. 2) If needed, the arterial impedance model can easily be reprogrammed to generate more complex impedance spectra. 3) The vascular parameters can be made nonlinear or time varying through the digital computer control.