Aortic root compliance influences hemolysis in mechanical heart valve prostheses: an in-vitro study.

Mechanical heart valve prostheses are known to activate coagulation and cause hemolysis. Both are particularly dependent on the leaflet dynamics, which in turn depends on the flow field in the aortic root influenced by the aortic root geometry and its compliance. Compliance reduction of large vessels occurs in aging patients, both in those who have atherosclerotic diseases and those who do not.

A low-volume tester for the thrombogenic potential of mechanical heart valve prostheses.

Background And Aim Of The Study: During the development of a mechanical heart valve prosthesis, many studies are conducted to guarantee its correct function. Currently, investigations into the thrombogenic potential of a valve after its replacement are conducted with expensive and time-consuming chronic animal trials. Hence, the study aim was to develop and test an alternative system to resolve such thrombogenic issues.

Consequences arising from elevated surface temperatures on human blood.

Heat in blood pumps is generated by losses of the electrical motor and bearings. In the presented study the influence of tempered surfaces on bulk blood and adhesions on these surfaces was examined. Titanium alloy housing dummies were immersed in 25 mL heparinized human blood.

Impact of hyperthermal rotary blood pump surfaces on blood clotting behavior: an approach.

The influence of heat dissipating systems, such as rotary blood pumps, was investigated. Titanium cylinders as rotary blood pump housing dummies were immersed in porcine blood and constantly tempered at specific temperatures (37-60 degrees C) over a defined period of time. The porcine blood was anticoagulated either by low heparin dosage or citrate.