Non-parametric dynamical estimation of blood flow rate, pressure difference and viscosity for a miniaturized blood pump.

Blood pumps are becoming increasingly important for medical devices. They are used to assist and control the blood flow and blood pressure in the patient's body. To accurately control blood pumps, information about important hydrodynamic parameters such as blood flow rate, pressure difference and viscosity is needed.

Water as a Blood Model for Determination of CO Removal Performance of Membrane Oxygenators.

CO removal via membrane oxygenators has become an important and reliable clinical technique. Nevertheless, oxygenators must be further optimized to increase CO removal performance and to reduce severe side effects. Here, in vitro tests with water can significantly reduce costs and effort during development.

Microstructured Hollow Fiber Membranes: Potential Fiber Shapes for Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenators.

Extracorporeal membrane oxygenators are essential medical devices for the treatment of patients with respiratory failure. A promising approach to improve oxygenator performance is the use of microstructured hollow fiber membranes that increase the available gas exchange surface area. However, by altering the traditional circular fiber shape, the risk of low flow, stagnating zones that obstruct mass transfer and encourage thrombus formation, may increase.

Animal blood in translational research: How to adjust animal blood viscosity to the human standard.

Animal blood is used in mock circulations or in forensic bloodstain pattern analysis. Blood viscosity is important in these settings as it determines the driving pressure through biomedical devices and the shape of the bloodstain. However, animal blood can never exactly mimic human blood due to erythrocyte properties differing among species.

Suitable CO Solubility Models for Determination of the CO Removal Performance of Oxygenators.

CO removal via membrane oxygenators during lung protective ventilation has become a reliable clinical technique. For further optimization of oxygenators, accurate prediction of the CO removal rate is necessary. It can either be determined by measuring the CO content in the exhaust gas of the oxygenator (sweep flow-based) or using blood gas analyzer data and a CO solubility model (blood-based).

Estimation Methods for Viscosity, Flow Rate and Pressure from Pump-Motor Assembly Parameters.

Blood pumps have found applications in heart support devices, oxygenators, and dialysis systems, among others. Often, there is no room for sensors, or the sensors are simply unreliable when long-term operation is required. However, control systems rely on those hard-to-measure parameters, such as blood flow rate and pressure difference, thus their estimation takes a central role in the development process of such medical devices.