snli@ualberta.ca
Graduate
BSc in Mechanical Engineering (2017)
Ex Vivo Heart Perfusion

Research Interests : Ex Vivo Heart Perfusion, Compliant Aorta, Pulsatile Pump, VAD, Human Heart

Ex vivo heart perfusion (EVHP) preserves a donor heart’s natural beating function outside of the body. The purpose of this work is to study the fluid mechanics of an EVHP system on cardiac performance. Previous work has shown that including the compliant nature of the aorta at the pulsatile pump exit can reduce overall pump workload. The EVHP system can be assumed analogous to a mechanical reciprocating pump loop. An experimental test loop has been developed to model the EVHP cardiac flow loop for which all system parameters will be measured. The physiological pulsatile flow is generated using a programmable diaphragm pump. At the pump outlet, a compliant tube section simulates aortic elastic response. To predict system parameters, the flow loop is modeled using a Bernoulli analysis. Silicone mock aortas of variable compliance are investigated to understand the flow effects of the compliant section. Data collected will be used to validate the developed system flow model, allowing the influence of the compliant aorta to be predicted. The results of a parametric study of system parameters on pump performance with the effect of aortic compliance will be presented. The end results of this work will be the development of a design strategy for the construction of a compliant section for the medial EVHP device.