3-DIMENSIONAL MODELING OF THE ANATOMY OF THE HEART AND GREAT-VESSELS

The anatomic constraints imposed on a total artificial heart (TAH) req uire specific anatomic studies. A thoracic anatomic study was performe d with a scanning device equipped with three-dimensional (3-D) reconst ruction software on 15 male patients, between the ages of 41 to 63 yea rs (52 +/- 6 years). All were candidates for heart transplantation. Th e 3-D reconstructions of the cardiovascular structures obtained from s urgical anatomy data specific to TAH implantation allowed a volumetric measurement of these structures. A modeling diagram of these structur es permitted reproducible quantitative measurements of the 35 geometri cal parameters which characterized shape, orientation, and position of these structures within the thorax. Most of the measured parameters w ere characterized by low variability (coefficient of variation from 10 to 25%).