A moving-actuator type electromechanical total artificial heart. I.Linear type and mock circulation experiments

A new type of motor-driven total artificial heart system with a moving-actuator mechanism has been developed. The prototype system consists of a brushless dc motor inside of a rolling-cylinder, two arc-shaped pusher-plates and two polyurethane sacs. The moving-actuator type electromechanical pump has structural advantages of small size and light weight, as compared to other reported motor-driven pumps with fixed-actuator mechanisms. The results of the mock circulation tests are reported in this paper with a cardiac output of 9 L/min at an aortic pressure of 120 mmHg and a heart rate of 120 bpm. The fulfillment of the basic control requirements of the artificial heart was also confirmed, i.e., preload sensitive and afterload insensitive cardiac output response and balanced right and left ventricular outputs.     

On-line pressure estimation for a left heart assist device

Long term measurement of blood pressures is essential for control of circulatory systems with artificial hearts or circulatory assist devices. Efforts to obtain reliable continuous direct measurements of blood pressures, however, have not been successful. This paper describes an on-line pressure estimation technique for use with a portable pneumatically driven left heart assist device. The on-line maximum likelihood algorithms are used for the estimation with the technique based on the use of physical models of the components of the driver and blood pump system. This technique estimates the inlet and outlet pressures of the blood pump. The directly measured driving air pressure and piston position of the pneumatic actuator are used for the estimation. In vitro and in vivo experiments were made to test the use of the on-line estimation technique. The results show successful linear correlations between the actual pressures and their estimates. This technique offers the following advantages: accurate pressure information for on-line control, accessibility to the transducers for recalibration, and noninvasive location of the transducers.     

A Tubular Self-Synchronous Motor for Artificial Heart Pump Drive

Buildup and test of a permanent magnet, tubular, self-synchronous motor and the associated microprocessor-based power conditioning link are discussed. The motor is controlled for variable frequency axial oscillation demonstrating suitability to function as an energy conversion intermediary between a battery pack and an artificial heart pumping element. Strengths and weaknesses of the test bed system are discussed along with future plans directed toward development of an implantable pump drive for an artificial heart.     

An intelligent remote monitoring system for artificial heart.

A web-based database system for intelligent remote monitoring of an artificial heart has been developed. It is important for patients with an artificial heart implant to be discharged from the hospital after an appropriate stabilization period for better recovery and quality of life. Reliable continuous remote monitoring systems for these patients with life support devices are gaining practical meaning. The authors have developed a remote monitoring system for this purpose that consists of a portable/desktop monitoring terminal, a database for continuous recording of patient and device status, a web-based data access system with which clinicians can access real-time patient and device status data and past history data, and an intelligent diagnosis algorithm module that noninvasively estimates blood pump output and makes automatic classification of the device status. The system has been tested with data generation emulators installed on remote sites for simulation study, and in two cases of animal experiments conducted at remote facilities. The system showed acceptable functionality and reliability. The intelligence algorithm also showed acceptable practicality in an application to animal experiment data.     

A moving-actuator type electromechanical total artificial heart.II. Circular type and animal experiment

A new type of electromechanical total artificial heart (TAH) based on circular rolling-cylinder mechanism was developed to overcome critical problems in motor-driven artificial hearts such as large size and difficulties in fitting the heart to atrial remnants and arterial vessels. Its performance and reliability were evaluated in mock circulation and in an animal implant experiment. The total weight and volume of the pump is 650 g and 600 mL, respectively. This new pump was implanted in a calf for total heart replacement and 96 h of survival was achieved. The whole system, including pump, controller, and control algorithm performed well enough to improve the prospect of eventual clinical application of our TAH system.     

Progranmable Pneumatic Generator for Manipulation of Intrathoracic Pressure

The determination that blood can move during cardiopulmonary resuscitation because of imposed changes in intrathoracic pressure has led to the construction and testing of mechanical devices for increasing intrathoracic pressure fluctuations over those obtained by manual means. These mechanical systems have required high-pressure ventilation simultaneous with compression of the chest to augment blood flow. Their usefulness has been limited, however, because of the requirement for endotracheal intubation and complex devices. Similar systems have also been used to generate intrathoracic pressure changes timed to the cardiac cycle to aid the failing, but beating, heart. A system was developed that can produce high intrathoracic pressure without simultaneous ventilation by using a vest that is placed around the thorax. The vest contains a bladder that is rapidly inflated and deflated by the programmable pneumatic generator. Air flows into and out of the bladder by the proper sequencing of large-bore three-way and two-way solenoid valves that are connected in series. A microcomputer-based controller is used to sequence the valves. The programmable pneumatic generator inflates the bladder more rapidly and to higher pressures than previous systems. The programmable pneumatic generator has been used in studies of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (heart arrested) and circulatory assistance (heart beating, but function depressed).     

Multiphase Power Converter Drive for Fault-Tolerant Machine Development in Aerospace Applications

This paper describes an experimental tool to evaluate and support the development of fault-tolerant machines designed for aerospace motor drives. Aerospace applications involve essentially safety-critical systems which should be able to overcome hardware or software faults and therefore need to be fault tolerant. A way of achieving this is to introduce variable degrees of redundancy into the system by duplicating one or all of the operations within the system itself. Looking at motor drives, multiphase machines, such as multiphase brushless dc machines, are considered to be good candidates in the design of fault-tolerant aerospace motor drives. This paper introduces a multiphase two-level inverter using a flexible and reliable field-programmable gate-array/digital-signal-processor controller for data acquisition, motor control, and fault monitoring to study the fault tolerance of such systems.      

Hybrid assistive system-the motor neuroprosthesis

Two approaches are currently applied for motor rehabilitation of paralyzed humans: functional electrical stimulation (FES) and mechanical bracing. Both assistive systems have limited application due to several factors (indication, psycho, socio, and economic status, state-of-the-art of technology, etc.). The combination of FES and an externally powered and controlled brace is called a hybrid assistive system (HAS). The HAS presented in this paper is a combination of multichannel surface FES and self-fitting modular orthosis (SFMO). Energy expenditure and a reduction of force load on the upper extremities are criteria for the efficacy of HAS. The control system of HAS is nonnumerical and based on artificial reflexes (AR).     

A novel bearingless interior permanent magnet slice motor driven blood pump

A 2-pole bearingless interior permanent magnet (IPM) motor with slice rotor configuration is presented in this paper. A novel IPM rotor is designed considering direct and indirect operational specifications such as force constant, torque constant, axial/radial stiffness and cogging torque. Cogging torque and its resulting vibrations affect motor and levitation operation significantly. Hence, various rotor configurations are simulated using the finite element method to develop a topology that minimizes these phenomena. The final topology is tested for closed-loop levitation and speed control. The motor is also tested for its intended application as a blood pump. A mock circulatory loop is developed to measure the performance of the pump. The simulation results, experimental control system performance and pump performance results are shown and explained in the paper.     

A computer-aided approach to the structural analysis and modification of a large circulatory system model

The purpose of this study is to show an approach to making an intelligent support system for understanding and modifying a large circulatory system model using techniques of system analysis. Structural analysis makes it possible to visualize hierarchies of Coleman's circulatory model Human. Two techniques are successively applied for structural analysis, model reduction and graph analysis by interpretative structural modeling (ISM). First, the analysis for model reduction removes input-output relations with an input-output gain less than a given threshold, and second, the ISM technique applied to the reduced model of Human provides hierarchical directed graphs. The proposed approach: 1) enables visualization of a hierarchy graph of cause and effect relations of the large circulatory model, 2) suggests control and diagnostic information to the model by tracing back a path in the hierarchy, and 3) allows the user to modify the circulatory model. The efficiency and performance of the proposed approach demonstrates technical indications of success in analyzing and justifying experimental evidences with the online help of the system.     

Mathematical Analysis of Cardiovascular Function

This paper identifies several published models of cardiovascular function, and attempts to analyze them in terms of the physiological processes which are embedded in their structure. It appears that representative models have increased in size and complexity in direct proportion to increases in the power and suitability of available computing machinery. An early focus on pulsatile hemodynamics within a single vascular compartment has evolved into analyses of ventricular filling and ejection, the function of the circulatory system as a closed system, longterm cardiovascular control, and the interaction of the circulatory system with other organ systems.     

An Inductively Coupled RF System for the Transmission of 1 kW of Power Through the Skin

In systems in which inductive coupling between a pancake-shaped coil on the surface of the body and a similar coil within the body is utilized for the transport of electromagnetic energy, the minimization of temperature rise in the tissue is intimately related to the achievement of minimum losses in the region of the implanted coil. A detailed theoretical analysis indicates the design considerations for achieving minimum losses in the vicinity of the implanted coil and predicts relevant internal losses of about one-half of 1 percent of the transported power. Experimental verification of theoretical expectations has involved an operating frequency of 428 kHz for the transmission of 1 kW of power between a simple water-cooled coil on the surface of the chest and a coil implanted in the chest wall of a dog. A maximum tissue temperature of 103.5° F was observed. Since 1-h operation per day at the 1-kW level would supply the anticipated energy requirements for a patient with an artificial heart, the system may find application in the charging of internal energy storage units of artificial heart systems.     

Real-time cardiac output estimation of the circulatory system underleft ventricular assistance

A method for indirect and real-time estimation of the cardiac output of the circulatory system supported by the left ventricular assist device (LVAD) is proposed. This method has low invasiveness and is useful for clinical applications of the LVAD since it needs only two measurements: the rate of blood outflow from the LVAD and the aortic pressure. The method is based on a system identification technique for the time-series model of the cardiovascular system and requires less computational time than other methods with similar estimation accuracy. Hence, the method could be implemented in a personal computer system and realize online, real-time estimation of the instantaneous outflow rate of the natural heart. Results obtained in vitro using a mock circulatory system and in vivo using an adult goat show that the method can yield a fairly high correlation coefficient between the true stroke volume of the natural heart and its estimate of more than 0.99 (in vitro) or 0.95 (in vivo). The estimation method thus appears suitable for clinical use     

Redox MXene Artificial Synapse with Bidirectional Plasticity and Hypersensitive Responsibility

Artificial synapses are key elements for the nervous system which is an emulation of sensory and motor neuron signal transmission. Here, the design and fabrication of redox-behavior the metal carbide nanosheets, termed MXene artificial synapse, which uses a highly-conductive MXene electrode, are reported. Benefiting from the special working mechanism of ion migration with adsorption and insertion, the device achieves world-record power consumption (460 fW) of two-terminal synaptic devices, and so far, the bidirectionally functioned synaptic device could effectively respond to ultra-small stimuli at an amplitude of ±80 mV, even exceeding that of a biological synapse. Potential applications have also been demonstrated, such as dendritic integration and memory enhancement. The special strategy and superior electrical characteristics of the bidirectionally functioned electronic device pave the way to high-power-efficiency brain-inspired electronics and artificial peripheral systems.     

Brushless permanent magnet (BPM) motor drive system usingload-commutated inverter

The goal of this work is to develop a brushless permanent magnet (BPM) motor drive system with low total system cost, high reliability and adequate performance for high-volume production and application to commercial appliances. The power converter used is a low-cost thyristor-based load-commutated inverter (LCI). Although LCIs have been used to supply sinusoidally excited permanent magnet motors, their application to BPM motors is a key contribution of this work. A detailed digital computer model capable of predicting the steady state as well as the transient performance of a BPM motor driven by an LCI has been developed. The utility-side phase-controlled rectifier, as well as the motor-side inverter-including the DC-link inductor, are modeled. A load-commutated inverter specifically designed to supply the BPM motor has been fabricated in the laboratory. The developed control strategy has been implemented on an INTEL 80C196KD microcontroller board. Simulation and experimental results to support the use of an LCI to drive a BPM motor are included in the paper     

Performance analysis of photovoltaic pumping systems using switched reluctance motor drives

A photovoltaic (PV) pumping system using a switched reluctance motor (SRM) is investigated in this work. the motor is supplied by a DC voltage through a simple switching circuit. This drive circuit is much simpler than the normal DC/AC inverter required to supply an induction motor. the efficiency of the SRM is considerably higher than that of equivalent DC or induction motors. In addition, because of its simple construction, the SRM is cheaper than these conventional drives. These advantages give the proposed system higher efficiency and lower cost compared with other systems. In this paper, which has a substantial tutorial content, a design example is studied in detail to explore the advantages of PV pumping systems based on the new drive. Study of the performance of the proposed system showed that the operating efficiency of the motor is about 85% during most of its working time. the matching efficiency between the PV array and the proposed system approaches 95%. the major part of the losses takes place in the pump and the riser pipes; this loss represents one-third of the total available energy.     

Identification and control for heart rate regulation during treadmill exercise

This paper proposes a novel integrated approach for the identification and control of Hammerstein systems to achieve desired heart rate profile tracking performance for an automated treadmill system. For the identification of Hammerstein systems, the pseudorandom binary sequence input is employed to decouple the identification of dynamic linear part from input nonlinearity. The powerful epsilon-insensitivity support vector regression method is adopted to obtain sparse representations of the inverse of static nonlinearity in order to obtain an approximate linear model of the Hammerstein system. An Hinfinity controller is designed for the approximated linear model to achieve robust tracking performance. This new approach is successfully applied to the design of a computer-controlled treadmill system for the regulation of heart rate during treadmill exercise. Minimizing deviations of heart rate from a preset profile is achieved by controlling the speed of the treadmill. Both conventional proportional-integral-derivative (PID) control and the proposed approaches have been employed for the controller design. The proposed algorithm achieves much better heart rate tracking performance.     

Three-Terminal Artificial Olfactory Sensors based on Emerging Materials: Mechanism and Application

Over the past several years, a variety of hardware-based artificial sensory systems, including artificial skin, electronic noses, and artificial retinas, have attracted considerable research interest in advanced artificial intelligence systems. The integration of sensing and computing functions in single or multiple connected self-adaptive field-effect transistor (FET)-structured sensory devices to implement artificial olfactory systems for in-sensor computing has recently attracted increasing attention. In this review, the development status of FET-based gas sensory devices is focused on. The mechanisms of sensory FET devices, gas-recognition materials, strategies for improving sensing performance, and the integration of sensory devices into the artificial olfactory system are discussed. Finally, the further development of FET-based sensory devices for artificial olfactory systems and their great potential for next-generation intelligent sensory systems are discussed in broad fields such as environmental monitoring, health care, and military industries.     

Cost impact of telecommunications switch software problems ondivested Bell operating companies

Bellcore has developed a model to support the periodic calculation and reporting of customer costs resulting from poor quality in telecommunications switching system software. This model is designed to provide, as a primary output, total switching system software cost of poor quality, along with a breakdown of this total by major cost component. The primary input to the model is software RQMS data, described in Bellcore's reliability and qualify measurements for telecommunications systems, TR-TSY-000929, and reported by switching system suppliers to the divested Bell operating companies (telcos) on systems operated by these companies. Telco and switching system supplier alike are expected to benefit from the ongoing application of the model, through which accumulated maintenance cost information will be made available to support telco switching system management functions and supplier quality improvement efforts