Real-time in vitro observation of cavitation on prosthetic heart valves

A method for real-time in vitro observation of cavitation on a prosthetic heart valve has been developed. Cavitation of four blood analog fluids (distilled water, aqueous glycerin, aqueous polyacrylamide, and aqueous xanthan gum) has been documented for a Medtronic/Hall prosthetic heart valve operating in a Penn State Electric Assist Device at physiologic conditions. For each fluid, cavity growth and collapse occurred in less than one millisecond. The cavity duration time was found to decrease with increasing atrial pressure at constant aortic pressure and beat rate. From this study, it was concluded that cavitation may also occur in blood.<
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