Design of a Novel Cavopulmonary Assist Device for Fontan Procedures: CFD, PIV, and Hydraulic Testing

摘要

Single ventricle heart disease is the leading cause of death for birth defects in children under one years of age [1]. The cur-rent surgical procedure requires the use of a shunt for the first stage of the surgery. The following surgeries remove the shunt but cannot be performed on a newborn due to higher lung re-sistance during the first weeks of life. The overall surgical pro-cess, known as the Fontan procedure, results in a reconstructed anatomy where the left and right pulmonary arteries are sutured to the superior and inferior vena cavae (SVC/IVC), hence by-passing the right heart. This anatomy is called a total cavopul-monary connection or TCPC.