A three-chamber heart simulator for the study of electromagnetic interference with implantable devices

A portable heart simulator for the study of electromagnetic interference to implantable devices is designed. The simulator consists of a plexiglas box divided into three chambers simulating the left atrium and the ventricles, plus a lateral lodging for the implantable device. The box is coupled to a laptop PC by an A/D board; HW and SW interfaces allow to monitor and drive the chambers. Synthetic endocardial atrial and ventricle signals performing up to 13 cardiac rhythms are stored in the PC. They are applied to the cardiac chambers by AgCl plates. Sensing electrodes are AgCl needles inserted into the saline.