T. Isoyama et al., Using one rotary blood pump to produce separate pulsatile circulations in the upper and lower halves of the body, ARTIF ORGAN, 24(8), 2000, pp. 680-682
Separate systemic circulations with pulsatile flow were obtained using 1 ro
tary blood pump as a left ventricular assist device. The outlet of the pump
was divided into 2 conduits, 1 connected to the upper half of the body and
the other connected to the lower half. An electric actuator that clamped t
he 2 outlet conduits alternately provided pulsatile flows. An in vitro expe
riment showed that the pulsatility phases of the upper and lower halves of
the body were complementary with pulsatile now, and an in vivo experiment s
howed that controlled now distributions of continuous flews could be obtain
ed.