Evaluating the impact of air compliance chamber volumes on valve performance for three different heart valves

Pulse duplication offers a means of testing the performance of heart valves in an in-vivo setting. Results obtained from current pulse duplicators are subject to the setup and physical testing settings. The ViVitro Pulse Duplicator from ViVitroLabs Inc. offer compliance chambers to mimic the systemic circulation of a human body. In addition to the compliance chambers, a Viscoelastic Impedance Adapter (VIA) is situated between the pulse duplicator linear actuator and ventricle sac. The volume of air in the VIA allows for the user to adjust the pressure and flow rate waveforms to mimic physiological waveforms but may also impact on the measured performance of heart valves. Three different valves were tested in a ViVitro pulse duplicator where the VIA air volume was set to 10 ml and 40 ml of air. The air volume shifts the pressure and flow rate waveforms in time and impact the physical operating conditions of the valves with constant input settings in the ViVitest software.