DYNAMIC CHARACTERIZATION OF A NEW ACCELERATED HEART-VALVE TESTER

This paper presents a new accelerated prosthetic heart valve tester pr ototype that incorporates a camshaft and poppet valves. A three elemen t Windkessel system is used to mimic the afterload of the human system ic circulation. The device is capable of testing eight valves simultan eously at a rate up to 1,250 cycles/min, while the flow rate, the pres sure, and the valve loading can be monitored and adjusted individually . The tester was characterized and calibrated using a set of eight Car pentier-Edwards bioprostheses at a flow rate varying between 3 and 5 L /min. The experiment was carried out with the pressure difference acro ss the closed heart valve maintained between 140 and 190 mmHg. Smooth and complete opening and closing of the valve leaflets was achieved at all cycling rates. This confirms that the velocity profiles approachi ng the test valves were uniform, an important factor that allows the t est valves to open and close synchronously each time.