Acute Animal Experiment Using a Linear Motor-Driven Total Artificial Heart

A linear pulse motor developed by the authors was selected as the actuator for a total artificial heart, because it had the highest thrust/volume ratio, at 0.76 N/ml, of the eight kinds of linear motor considered. This paper summarizes the results of an acute animal experiment using a linear pulse motor-driven total artificial heart (linear TAH). The linear TAH consisted of a linear pulse motor, two sac type blood pumps, and four artificial valves. The mass was 1.3 kg and the volume was 540 ml. The volume of the TAH was a little larger than the target size, equal to the volume of an adult human's fist. The linear TAH was attached to a sheep of body weight 42 kg to evaluate its hemodynamic performance. The descending aortic flow rate was 1.5 1/min, equal to 50% of the rate in the control data. The difference between the flow rates of the left and right blood pumps was 12 to 13%, when the left atrium pressure reading indicated normal pressure. The sheep was sacrificed two hours after the operation. The data obtained suggest that the linear TAH can be used as a circulation-supporting device that satisfies clinical circulatory requirements.