Heart chamber simulator with electronic accelerated heart valve wear and fatigue test apparatus and method

摘要

An accelerated wear and fatigue tester for replacement human heart valves includes a fluid which is caused to pulse the heart valve by a pressure generator utilizing a coil secured to a flexible diaphragm in contact with the fluid. The coil is subjected to a magnetic field and a signal selected from pulsed, sinusoidal, or random pulses and/or a DC offset, or a recorded signal from a human heart, such that the magnetic interaction selectively pulses the diaphragm and replacement heart valve to simulate heart action. A plurality of pressure generators with differing signals, including phase differences, may be provided to simulate arrhythmia in a heartbeat, and a library of recordings may be used as a database to predict irregularities in replacement heart valves.