The artificial heart (AH) is devoid of physiologic connections to the
recipient's native feedback control loops. Control of an AH can be eit
her passive or dynamic. Passive intrinsic control provides limited AH
response to physiologic demands. Dynamic control requires the sensing
of metabolic and hemodynamic signals and their incorporation into self
-adjust AH function. A single metabolic or hemodynamic parameter canno
t provide sufficient data accurately to adjust AH pumping in response
to varying blood flow demands. A combination of input control signals
is required for reliable and flexible AH function. The selection of ap
propriate input control parameters and their incorporation into AH con
troller designs remains a critical step in the achievement of a perman
ent, totally implantable AH.